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SOUTH CROFTY’S TECHNO TIN MEN TRIAL CUTTING EDGE EQUIPMENT. March 2009
The Remote Surveying Vehicle (RSV) used to carry a laser scanner is currently being tested and fine-tuned before being ‘commercialised' for general sale.
Developed by Camborne School of Mines graduate, Dr James Jobling-Purser of Jobling-Purser RSV LLP in Penryn, the RSV provides a stable platform to carry the scanner over rough terrain and, because it can be controlled from a distance, it can be driven into potentially hazardous areas without risk to operators. Designed and built in Cornwall, the RSV has taken five years to perfect.
Working in conjunction with Exeter-based surveying company, Merrett Survey Partnership (MSP) owned by Peter Merrett - also a Camborne School of Mines graduate - the scanner and RSV have been combined to create a piece of equipment that provides a massive increase in the speed, efficiency and safety of underground laser scanning surveys.
One reason South Crofty chose to deploy the equipment is that the wide tunnels used in modern mining are ideal for accommodating large modern mining machines, which need to be kept moving. The mining work suffered minimal disruption using the new surveying technique.
The RSV uses laser scanning technology to measure the rock surfaces and all features within the mine to a very high level of accuracy. This data is then used to build a complete 3 dimensional model of the mine and this will be of great benefit to the mining engineers and geologists designing the future layout of the mine workings.
By utilising this technology, the managers of South Crofty could gather vital information over a three day period, a process that would have taken weeks if not months using traditional surveying techniques.
Alan Shoesmith, Chief Executive Officer of Western United Mines, owners of South Crofty, said the whole experience had been extremely beneficial.
He said: "From an engineering point of view this revolutionary RSV, coupled with the scanning equipment, can show in a matter of minutes information that would take our surveyors weeks to accumulate. The amount of detail derived by the scanning technology far exceeds any conventional survey methods and really suits our working environment."
Dr Jobling-Purser added: "The RSV is lightweight, easily dismantled and assembled, easily transported and can be adapted for a variety of purposes beyond surveying. It has onboard computers, video cameras and is able to operate up to 200m from the operator using radio control, or even further using cables.
"It speeds up the surveying process, which reduces the cost of surveying in terms of ‘pounds per metre of passageway', but also it means that mining operations need not be interrupted whilst surveyors set up tripods and targets.
"In terms of safety, there are features within the mine that are inaccessible without major safety precautions but using the RSV these areas can be surveyed remotely from safe locations, keeping personnel out of hazardous or unstable locations."
Both Mr Jobling-Purser and Mr Merrett were pleased with the outcome of the trials at South Crofty. The RSV has already been tested in a Mexican silver mine and the South African Mine Surveyors Institute has expressed great interest in the technology, but South Crofty is the first European mine to use the equipment.
Mr Merrett said: "We needed the help of Western United Mines because South Crofty has adopted modern mechanised mining methods in order to re-open the mine and make it commercially viable. It therefore seemed only natural that they should be one of the first to trial the very latest in mine surveying technology. It has proved a very successful exercise all round."
