Although NLT Australia is only three years old, NLT Global has been producing the highest quality product for the mining industry for more than 20 years.
NLT has and continues to provide innovative products that have helped to revolutionize the way the mining industry views safety standards. Two such products have the ability to supply two-way messaging to their own miners’ cap lamps as well as tracking of equipment and personnel underground all products now with EX ia Certification.
Continuing on with this innovation, NLT Australia chose to provide products that have been driven by our customer base and environment.
After being nominated “Centre of Excellence for IS Development”, NLT Australia has been committed to producing Certified Intrinsically Safe underground mine-specific products and will leverage decades of proven product and international business development experience.
This responds to the well-defined need expressed by the underground coal mining industry to have a communications and monitoring system that stays up and running for over 30 hours by “IS” UPS in the event of a mine emergency where two-way communication and monitoring are critical to saving lives.
The system deliverables all with “IS” Certifications include:
Intrinsically Safe Wireless Access Point.
Miner’s cap lamp with built-in Two-Way Messaging capabilities.
LED Headpiece
RFID Tags for Tracking of Personnel/Vehicles/Assets
RFID Reader
Software applications for monitoring, tracking, communications and messaging etc.
Soon to be added to this system is “IS” approved Voice Communicator Phone and Environmental Monitoring (air flow/gas)
NLT Australia currently has 7 Digital System installations underway 5 of which are in coal. With an abundance of international interest recently our digital system is set to be the preferred choice for communications and tracking in the underground mining and tunnelling industries.
The cap lamp is the second core technology and is the means by which miners are connected to the network. The cap lamps are fitted with the ability to accommodate an array of valuable devices, such as the Northern Light Two way Digital Messenger, location tracking, and emergency warning. Similarly, lamps with digital radio frequency identification (RFID) tags provide the opportunity to track the location of personnel to facilitate evacuation procedures and provide proximity warnings to heavy equipment operators.
The Northern Light GII LED incorporates LED headpiece with either, Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium batteries into NLT’s traditional cap lamp.
These technological advancements have increased safety and prolonged battery the battery life of the cap lamp. It has also eliminated the cost of replacement bulbs to provide a better source of light than the incandescent alternative. Importantly, it strips the total weight carried by underground workers from 3kg to just over 1kg.
One way in which NLT is different from its competitors is its commitment to open IP standards; Northern Light Digital Network facilitates and enables the deployment of evolving technologies and standards aimed at providing a future-proof investment.
NLT Australia has taken commercially available technology (for example, standard Wireless Ethernet) and developed new and innovative applications for use in underground or hazardous environments.
NLT is one of the few companies with this quality international standard in Australia, and the premier company to have applied it to underground wireless technology for the mining services industry.
The NLT product range utilises existing mining network infrastructure, such as fibre-optic systems, which allow for very large cost savings to the mine itself as NLT products can be easily integrated into the existing infrastructure.
The system will function as part of the NLT digital network, which greatly reduces costs, drastically increases productivity while providing consummate safety. The product will allow mines to monitor any signal eg. gas sensors or pump stations through remote wireless robust connection.
The NLT approach is the preferred solution for today’s underground mining industry. Installing the Northern Light Digital Network will increase worker safety and enhance mine productivity better than any of the alternatives currently available.
Australian coal mines are among the safest in the world, due to the industry's ongoing commitment to research and development. By addressing the specific industry needs; intrinsically safe wireless access point, cap lamps with built-in two-way messaging, tagging and tracking. NLT Australia will be assisting in up-holding Australia’s position at the forefront of world safety for underground coal mining.
For more information go to www.nltinc.com or visit NLT Australia at the Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition 2008 (QME 2008) on July 22-24 at stand 9009.