About Mine Design Technologies Inc
MDT is an instrumentation company specializing in geotechnical applications. Our patented SMART products have been designed to survive the rigours of geotechnical and mining environments while maintaining a low cost and ease of installation. Designed by engineers for engineers, our instruments get the job done without breaking the bank. We now offer wireless communication with our SMART instruments underground!
MDT personnel are quality conscious and strive for continuous improvement in all areas of the business. We are proud of our workmanship and attention to detail, beginning with our sales and engineering and continuing through to manufacturing and customer service. In many cases, our staff has demonstrated the ability to work with our customers and assist them in solving their problems. Our ability to attract and retain new customers is a testament to that ability.
Contact MDT for more details. Custom instrumentation programs, support design and evaluation, and data interpretation services are also available. Please check out our partner company MD Engineering for more details.
How Barrick Cortez utilized Geotechnical Instrumentation and Real-Time Wireless Telemetry to Improve Mine Safety & Efficiency
The world-class wireless system developed by Mine Design Technologies and Newtrax Technologies virtually eliminates manual readings by continuously monitoring over 300 instruments and relaying the data to a central interface at mine operations.
Mine Design Technologies – a leader in the development and deployment of geotechnical instrumentation designed to function in the most challenging mining environments
Newtrax Technologies – a firm specializing in ultra-long life wireless telemetry & networking systems, based in Montreal, Canada.
Installing a MineHop node is simple. When the node is turned on, it automatically connects to the network. Status LEDs alert users where network signal is strong or weak. The user picks a location where the signal strength is good and mounts the node in place using tie wraps. The process is repeated until network connectivity is extended to the target location for instrumentation. Underground installation of a SMART MPBX requires 4 simple steps:
- 1. Drill a hole
- 2. Uncoil the instrument and tape it to a grout tube
- 3. Insert it into the hole and grout to the collar
- 4. Then connect the wireless node to the sensor’s lead wire connector
Above ground, a single node can monitor up to 4 vibrating-wire piezometers. A wireless node is typically mounted on top of a pole and connected to a piezometer in the well by a 12ft cable. The final step is to configure the sampling rate, sensor thresholds and email alarms from the web interface.
The resulting system at Barrick Cortez saves time and money, while ensuring that the Mine Engineers and Geologists get the data they need to properly plan for safe and efficient operations. “Some of our piezometers can be in some pretty remote locations here, so having a wireless network allows us to download the data remotely, so that we don’t have to travel to every piezometer and download that data. This allows us to save time, and in the end that leads to cost savings. At Barrick Cortez, we have over 200 wells and piezometers that need monitoring.”
Jeremiah Larocque
Mine Geologist “It turns a 15-minute commute into a 2-minute commute.” “Saves us time, allows us to monitor everything constantly…it’s just a plus across the board.”
Luis Rodriguez
Underground Geotechnical
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For more information on how to put MineHop and SMART MPBX instrumentation to work at your mine, contact: wireless@mdt.ca for details.