The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says they have developed technological solutions that will detect danger zones before humans go inside mines.
CSIR researchers were briefing the media in Melville, Johannesburg, on its role in supporting the mining industry to improve safety in mines.
This follows a spate of deaths on mines.
Principal Researcher at CSIR Dave Roberts says, “The industry has agreed to a goal of zero fatalities by 2020. At the moment this year alone we have 42 fatalities. The majority of fatalities occur as a result of falls of ground. “
Robert adds, “To address the issue around falls of ground, we developed a number of different solutions. One of these is a ground penetrating radar, which is a system which uses various frequencies of radio pulses to detect the presence of discontinuities in the roof or hanging wall of the excavation.”
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