Published in the March 2008 Coal USA Magazine

"The phone will not stop ringing,” Rajant mining senior vice president Gary Anderson said of the feedback Rajant has received to the January announcement.

“Mine Site Technologies has a very good presence around the world [and] we’re very happy to have them on board.”

MST will collaborate with Rajant on wireless feasibility studies, site surveys, aerial mine photogrammetry as well as the installation, training, maintenance and operation of BreadCrumb networks.

The two companies had already been involved in work at several mines using the BreadCrumb system and MST will be the sales, delivery and product creation partner for Rajant’s wireless solutions.

Anderson said the deal put the wheels in motion for other strategic partnerships with mining companies that could rapidly come to fruition as a result of the work the two manufacturers have already done together.

At the same time, MST has been taking Rajant’s solutions to the mines within their vast geographical reach, expanding the horizons of both firms.

Anderson said Rajant is also looking forward to future projects with the company. “They are providing important feedback for current and future product development of BreadCrumbs as time goes forward,” he said.

One significant benefit, he said, is the standardization of Rajant’s product for use across a diverse collection of applications, including coal mining operations all over the globe. The long-term focus is for Rajant’s BreadCrumb product line to be the industry standard both above and below ground.

“[MST’s] experience and expertise in mining communications used for safety and operational improvements is exactly what we were looking for in a global partner,” Anderson said of the partnership’s future.

“They have great long-term relationships with a major part of the industry – from the largest openpit mine operators to the independent underground coal operators.”

The birth of BreadCrumbs

Anderson said the company initially got involved in the industry through emergency response systems. After seeing a crew don personal protective equipment (PPE) to enter a mine to set up a communications system with a large roll of cable, an idea was developed to drop nodes (BreadCrumbs) within the operation.

Just like the breadcrumbs in , the nodes would provide immediate communications and carry their own power. External management of the network is not required and the nodes would become the backbone communication system following an incident underground.

While leaky feeder systems still have many applications, in some places the option is slow. The mesh connection of BreadCrumbs, however, can provide more rapid and detailed answers to the surface or other areas of a mine while also allowing for RFID (radio frequency identification) capabilities on personnel and equipment.

Much like the old fairytale, the “crumbs” in the system become a network to establish location and provide a two-way pathway for underground workers and surface personnel, in emergencies and non-emergency situations.

Anderson said that Rajant recommends placing the nodes 500-1000ft apart for most applications, and pointed out that each features a battery backup and requires no configuration. You simply turn the system on and it finds every BreadCrumb automatically, establishes the networks and maintains it using self-healing auto-identifying meshing technology.

Rajant also touts the system’s reliability and ruggedness as a mining-specific solution using a common communications backbone. “The instantaneous deployment of BreadCrumb units allows mines to immediately maximize their capabilities of achieving productivity gains of up to 10 percent,” he said, adding that minimal fixed infrastructure is required for effective operation.

The company has also worked with the Mine Safety and Health Administration on testing for the possibility that the BreadCrumb units could be dropped into boreholes. This could provide needed communications and location information to the surface within seconds, regardless of the debris or atmosphere level at the bottom.

With mobility, varied power options and the ability to balance loads on what Rajant calls a simplistic design, the company’s outlook is confident.