CONSOL Energy Featured in National Geographic
TECHNOLOGY AT ROBINSON RUN MINE HIGHLIGHTS COMPANY'S
COMMITMENT TO SAFETY AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
This month National Geographic features CONSOL Energy's Robinson
Run Mine in Next, a section of their award-winning magazine
dedicated to forward-thinking technology from across the globe.
Since November 2011, CONSOL has worked closely with engineers
and scientists of Lockheed Martin to facilitate the proper testing
ground for MagneLink®, an innovative system that
provides post-accident emergency wireless through-the-earth
communications independent of surface or in-mine infrastructure.
The system uses voice, data, and/or beacon signal to enable
communications between trapped miners and rescuers on the surface
when no other communication system will function. Although the
testing phases of MagneLink® are not complete, CONSOL
Energy is proud to serve as a venue for the necessary trials of the
product and provide ample feedback.
Click to Read Article.
Background
Following the tragic Sago mine incident in Upshur County, West
Virginia in early 2006, CONSOL Energy's acclaimed safety team began
exploring new technologies to protect the health and wellbeing of
our miners.
Simultaneously, global security and aerospace giant, Lockheed
Martin, began work on a novel communications technology which
transmits magnetic waves through the earth without the transmission
wires and in-ground infrastructure currently required to
communicate via standard radio communications. The system, dubbed
MagneLink, is portable and provides wireless two-way, voice and
text communications and operates at ranges sufficient to
communicate from the surface into shallow-to-deep underground
mines. The system brings a tremendous emergency
communications capability to the mining industry in the event of an
accident where miners are trapped and have no other means of
communicating with rescue teams on the surface.
Given CONSOL Energy's expertise and industry-leading track
record in safety, federal regulators, including officials with the
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), facilitated a
partnership between CONSOL and Lockheed to begin research,
development, testing and evaluation at CONSOL's underground mining
complexes within the Appalachian basin.
CONSOL Energy and Lockheed Martin stepped up to provide the
funding, proving grounds and time commitment necessary to make this
project a reality.
To date, MagneLink is the only through-the-earth communication
system approved by MSHA for underground evaluation. While the
system remains in the testing phase, federal and state regulators,
as well as industry, acknowledge the transformational nature of
this technology. CONSOL Energy looks forward to continuing to
work on the cutting-edge with industry partners to perfect this and
other technologies and procedures to keep us ahead of the curve
with regard to our core values of safety, compliance and continuous
improvement.