One of the most hazardous occupations in the world is that of an underground miner.
The recent rescue of the miners trapped approximately 700 metres below the earth in Chile is testament to some of the issues that underground miners face daily.
And despite the number of safety regulations in place around vehicles operating underground, there is always the ever present potential of a serious accident.
However, as the industry pushes further towards automation, mining is becoming safer and more efficient than ever before as it removes a lot of the risk inherent in operating heavy machinery deep underground by simply removing the person from that situation in the first place.
One Australian company is at the front of this march towards greater automation and safety.
Remote Control Technologies (RCT) has developed its first above ground teleremote control station for underground production loaders.
Named the Remote Control Technologies Control Master Teleremote Surface Control Station, the technology allows for shift change ‘hot seat’ operator changeovers, as the operators no longer have to travel long distance to and from underground mining locations.
Working with one of the world’s largest miners, RCT has transferred teleremote operation of the loaders at a Queensland lead silver mine from underground to surface control, a move that was described by the miner as “at the forefront of teleremote development in the industry.”
Recently completed, this project paves the way for a more rapid changeover of vehicle operators during shift transitions, aiding in increased productivity as well as a number of operator health and safety benefits.
When installing the technology, the mining company required a number of safe guards to be in place, including machine control disparity error checking to be fully functional as well as displaying the safety and disparity error checking functions of the teleremote system while allowing the operation of the loader from the surface.
One of the main benefits of the introduction of this technology is the reduction of workers’ exposure to underground hazards such as diesel particulate matter from the vehicles, dangerous dust and damaging high noise levels.
It also resulted in a visible reduction in the number of light vehicles traversing the tunnels, and importantly it removes the miner from the possibility of being injured whilst working with or on an underground vehicle.
Importantly, with the installation of the teleremote loader there is also the production benefit of not having to shut down during firing times, depending on the location of the machine and the firing.
The teleremote underground production loader control system itself consists of an underground Tele Level Cabinet (TLC) which is connected to a fibre optic cable running to the surface and which then connects to the Teleremote Surface Operator Station.
The TLC contains a number of master products including a series CM2000D or CM2200 transmitter; video receiver demodulators; LCD monitors for visual displays; communications systems; a laser guard electronic barrier system; a power management system with backup; text on video systems for vehicle health reporting; as well as MUX and it can also connect into the standard production level telecoms and laser guard systems in the tele loader working areas.
The surface teleremote control station operates as if it were situated underground, even though in reality the tele loader can be working more than two kilometers away from the surface control centre.
The mining company that has installed Remote Control Technologies Teleremote Control Station at its Queensland mine is already looking at expanding the system into more of its mines.
With teleremote technology pegged as the future of mining operations, it is believed that it will significantly reduce the need for fly in fly out contractors, and reduce the negative effects this working lifestyle can have on families.