THE 100th Personal Emergency Device (PED) has been sold to the McArthur River Mine in the Northern Territory in a significant milestone.
The PED System will be used for personal communications and remote blast initiation to optimise safety and boost efficiency in operations at the mine.
The system uses ultra-low frequency electromagnetic signals which propagate through hundreds of metres of rock strata for paging, control and centralized blast initiation. According to users, the signal can be received at any location throughout the mine to provide an effective emergency communication system.
The first system was installed in a NSW coal mine near Sydney in August 1990, and has been integrated to a range of coal and metalliferous mines in Australia, Canada, USA and China.
The product, manufactured by Mine Site Technologies, has undergone considerable enhancement since its introduction. Originally developed to provide a fast and reliable method of informing underground miners of emergency situations, the PED has now become standard equipment in many mines.
According to the company, the system is vitally important to allow warnings to be issued in emergency situations.
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