Newtrax Technologies Inc says it has achieved significant improvements in safety operations at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine with the implementation of digital evacuation notification technology. It is the second mine in the world equipped with such a system. “Safety is our number one priority.” says Michael Place, Unit Manager of Projects from Granny Smith. “We live by the motto that if we cannot mine safely, we will not mine. We have integrated technology into the mine to ensure that all 800 personnel go home safely to their families every day.”

The Newtrax tracking system allows Granny Smith mine to track their personnel underground in real-time to ensure they are safe at all times. The mine currently has 80 km of development underground and over 100 personnel, so to know where people are in the mine at all times is a huge benefit according to Michael Place. Newtrax was present at their underground evacuation drill that took place October 10, 2018. Where they managed to get all personnel to refuge chambers within 37 minutes, which is approximately 20 minutes faster than they would do previously.

“To save 20 minutes just by implementing technology for the safety of personnel underground, that’s a fantastic achievement. “ says Place. “We believe that using cutting edge technology like the Newtrax suite, ultimately helps give us the safest mine possible, but it also helps us attract and retain people that want to work in a safe mine, that want to work in a mine that is at the cutting edge of technology,” says Mark Glazebrook, Mining Manager, Gold Fields Granny Smith.

Granny Smith mine is also planning to implement more technology from Newtrax in 2019 including productivity system such as Mobile Equipment Telemetry, Ventilation On Demand, and Proximity Detection. They have estimated A$3.2 million is savings in 2019 from using the Ventilation On Demand (VoD) system alone. Simon Waghorn, VP APAC, Newtrax says: “Through our combined vision, and our combined drive for improvement, we’ve really put together a strong technology roadmap which will be delivering significant returns on investment in terms of safety and productivity at Granny Smith mine in the next few years.”