Underground mine monitoring ensures safety through control
MICROMINE’s leading fleet management and mine control solution, Pitram, is used by mining operations worldwide for underground mine monitoring purposes. Pitram provides the control room with monitoring capability which improves control over the mine by allowing real-time decisions to be made.
As underground mines are hazardous environments, being able to monitor access to specific areas can be crucial to keeping staff safe. Pitram’s controlled area management module allows for access to dangerous or restricted areas to be monitored, alerting supervisors when authorised duration or the number of personnel within the area is exceeded. Supervisors determine the controls set for each area, with activities and movement within the area being logged. This data is then sent via wireless communication to the control room, allowing the control room to take appropriate action when an incident occurs or procedures are breached. Providing underground mine monitoring assists to reduce the likelihood workers will be caught in a dangerous situation.
3D mine visualisation
Pitram can also monitor the current position and status of all machine equipment via the 3D mine module. In underground mines, equipment is radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagged and tracked by a 3rd party system. Updates are then reported to Pitram’s server using one of several Pitram tracking system connectors ensuring that the control room always has current and accurate data. Using a 3D visualisation of the mine, operators have a much clearer view of machine proximity to each other, allowing real-time decisions to be made when a machine is deemed to have left its safe working area. If a collision or dangerous situation is imminent, proximity detection warnings will alert equipment operators and the control room, allowing them to resolve the situation. Using Pitram’s underground mine monitoring capability assists the prevention of such instances and helping to reduce the risk on workers.
underground mine monitoring: Managing drill blast operations
Underground drill and blast monitoring is also available in Pitram’s drill and blast management module. The module provides the tools needed to plan, schedule and manage drill and blast operations on-site. In an underground scenario, geologists are able to plan drill holes and monitor when they are ready to be charged. Once the hole has been blasted, the drill and blast module is able to provide ore extraction monitoring to determine the weight and grade of material extracted from a location. This assists mining engineers with planning the extraction of ore from underground operations.
Pitram’s underground mine monitoring capability assists with providing greater operational control to mine supervisors. Greater control helps to keep the mine operating at maximum efficiency.
Further reading
Learn more about Pitram’s underground mine monitoring systems.
