16 Kas 2020 Pazartesi
Excellent safety performance is a top priority at Kirkland Lake Gold and the Fosterville Gold Mine. By pushing the boundaries on how safe a mine can be they hold a leading position within the area of mining safety.
Kirkland Lake Gold has contracted Mobilaris Mining & Civil Engineering and Epiroc Australia as partners when digitalizing the mining operations of Fosterville Gold Mine in Australia. The goal has been to take safety to the next level, as well as increase efficiency. The products that have been implemented are: Mobilaris Situational Awareness, Mobilaris Emergency Support and Mobilaris Onboard.
New technology from Mobilaris Mining & Civil Engineering has been a key finding regarding safety improvements. With the help of new technology, people will become aware of what is around them, different hazards and exposures, and be able to react faster and make better decisions than in the past.
“The way we believe that new technology will make our mine safer is essentially through providing more information on the risks that people are exposed to. For example, is there a truck coming on the decline towards me? Is there another person on my level that there potentially can be interaction with?”, says Ben Edwards, Mine Business Improvement Engineer, Kirkland Lake Gold.
Also, by knowing the exact location of vehicles and equipment, people can go directly to the right location when starting their work, instead of driving around looking for things. This significantly reduces people’s traffic exposure and the risk of collisions.
At the Fosterville Gold Mine, the expectations are to at least halve the time of an evacuation with Mobilaris Emergency Support. Traditionally, there has been a manual process of counting tags and calling refuge chambers in the case of an emergency. By implementing digital emergency solutions, it is now easy to follow the progress of the emergency situation underground. Clearly visualized in real-time, rescue leaders will automatically see how the refuge chambers are filling up, and who is safe and who is not.
By initiating smart alerts from the emergency system, miners will be instantly warned of potential danger and can take decisions to avoid incidents or find the closest refuge chamber. Personnel in the control room will know who has acknowledged the warning and who hasn’t. The result is a safer workplace.
"In the event of something going wrong we will be able to react a lot faster since we will know where our people are and who is most at risk, so we can help them first. The technology has brought us to this new level of safety."
