Washington — NIOSH recently presented its 2022 Mine Safety and Health Technology Innovations Awards, which recognize mines and organizations exhibiting “extraordinary effort to apply technology or approve processes in innovative ways, above and beyond mandatory requirements, to improve mine worker safety and health.”
Recipients were honored in four categories.
Industrial minerals: Genesis Alkali, for implementing an extraction well system that uses well and extension casings to isolate electrical components from potentially hazardous mine gases while still allowing water to enter the pump intake.
Coal: CONSOL Energy and Simmons Equipment Co., for the S360 scoop bucket. Featuring lifting and lowering capabilities, the bucket allows a scoop operator to change between attachments and improve visibility, enabling safer operation around workers and obstacles.
Metal: Emesent, for its specialized drone autonomy technology used at the Glencore Kidd Mine. The company implemented a drone mapping system that identifies and captures visuals in inaccessible ground areas, removing engineers and surveyors from the task and the risks associated with unstable ground.
Stone, sand and gravel: Peckham Industries, for developing a strategic stope hole at an underground aggregates operation. Mine technology enabled the delivery of rock mined in the surface quarry to the underground operation adjacent to the primary and secondary crushers. This allowed more workers to operate in safer conditions above ground while eliminating long haul distances on steep grades and abating community concerns related to noise and dust at the mine.
“It is a benefit to the entire mining industry to have such innovative approaches tackle both new and persistent challenges,” NIOSH Associate Director for Mining Jessica Kogel said in a press release.
The awards were presented in conjunction with the Essential Minerals Association; the National Mining Association; and the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.
