AeroScout RFID helps Nevada gold mine to locate and communicate with personnel and equipment
chrispeng [ad_1]
One of the largest gold mines in Nevada, the Newmont Leeville Gold Mine, now uses a Wi-Fi system to track the movement of people and equipment in its 21-level underground tunnels. The system helps locate and contact people in the tunnel, understand the identities of underground personnel and equipment, provide security for mining operations, and improve efficiency.
Like most mining farms, the Leeville mining environment in Newmont is very complex. AeroScout industry program marketing director Amir Ben-Assa said that AeroScout and Mine Site Technologies collaborated to implement this system for the Leeville Gold Mine. At any time, there are hundreds of people and vehicles underground to perform their duties-3,200 tons of soil and ore are excavated every day-When a mine needs to locate a certain type of worker or move a person out of a certain area, it is often difficult Trace these personnel.
“The pressure on mines to improve efficiency is very high,” Ben-Assa said, partly because of the extremely high cost of tunnel equipment. When necessary, such as machine failure, requiring repair or replacement, or performing a controlled explosion, personnel and equipment need to be removed quickly; while the movement in underground tunnels is slow, and workers often need 30-60 minutes to move from one location underground to another Location. In addition, various safety regulations, such as the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), require mine operators to ensure the safety of underground personnel and to know their exact location.
The RFID system adopted by Leeville can solve these two problems. The system was installed this spring and uses 500 AeroScout T2 Intrinsically Safe Wi-Fi tags (used to track 450 employees and 50 devices), and AeroScout MobileView software. The label is embedded in the power supply battery box of the miner’s lamp cap to ensure that workers enter the mine tunnel with the label.
An AeroScout RFID tag (right) is embedded in the power supply battery box of the miner’s lamp cap
In the tunnel, Ben-Assa said, MST installed 85 ImPact Wi-Fi access points, connected to the back-end system through Ethernet cables or optical fibers, to cover the entire tunnel network in the lowest cost and most effective way. All 85 access points receive data from RFID tags and IP phones, and send information to the mine back-end system via cable connections.
MobileView collects the ID code of the tag, calculates the location of the tag according to the access point and signal strength, and corresponds it to the specific equipment and personnel, and displays the location of the tag in the form of a symbol on the drawing of the tunnel system generated by the software. In this way, the administrator can search for specific employees, search for any employees or equipment that may be damaged in the event of an accident or implementation of a controlled explosion, or seek a certain type of worker closest to the desired area. For example, if an electrician is needed in a certain area, the administrator can locate the electrician closest to the area, thereby saving time.
This system is also used in the 16 gathering points of the mine (accidents or other hazards, hidden places for workers to implement controllable explosions). Here, managers can confirm whether each employee is at the gathering point, whether there is a missing person, and check the location of the person on the MobileView software.
In addition, by using tags on the equipment, the mine can locate the required equipment and vehicles. MobileView software can track devices in various areas and store relevant data, such as which device needs to be tested or repaired.
“Newmont is very satisfied with this solution,” Ben-Assa said. “So far, this system has improved underground safety and mine communications.”
AeroScout Exciters can also be installed at the entrance and exit of the tunnel system to provide security alarms (Newmont has not yet used this feature). Exciter stimulates the passing AeroScout tags to send information, thereby providing real-time understanding of the entry and exit of tagged assets or personnel. If a miner enters an unauthorized area, the MobileView software will display an alert and send an email to notify the manager.
[ad_2]
