In two key projects, one of RioTinto’s mines was audited for all aspects of lightning protection and earthing.
The Brief
LPI was engaged to develop a solution to minimise the risk of methane ignition in the underground coal operations as a result of the installation of gas drainage wells across part of the mine site.
The Outcome
The audit was completed successfully, resulting in improvements to the existing protection scheme and a novel way of protecting gas drainage wells and avoiding underground sparking was developed. The latter method has been presented at mine safety and earthing conferences around Australia.