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Flashback

THESE days when we think about communications systems we visualize the best in robust leaky feeder systems or comprehensive wireless devices. Push-to-talk walkie-talkies, networked monitoring – all are fairly commonplace in modern mining.

Donna Schmidt
Flashback

Published in the March 2011 Coal USA Magazine

A look at this photo, taken circa 1945 at the Zenith mine in Minnesota, shows how far we have come in the past several decades, and how new generations have carried forward the inspiration to find the newest, most efficient and safest technology for miners.

The idea that crews, such as this mine rescue team, were tasked with the arduous job of unrolling telephone line to allow for even the simplest of communications seems unfathomable by today’s standards.

Think, too, that stretching this archaic system to every working area of a mine would be virtually impossible – as would making life-or-death contact with surface individuals in an emergency.

While it is interesting to look back on how history has changed the industry, it is also important to remember where we are, where we are headed, and the many people who have made that possible.

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