Handling explosives, operating machinery and working as deep as 1800 metres below ground in the largest underground mine in Australia means that safety and security are never far from the minds of the 2400 permanents employed at Xstrata Copper's Mount Isa Mines (MIM).
Bustling Mount Isa, or 'the Isa' as it is fondly referred to by the locals, is a far cry from the place lone prospector John Miles discovered way back in 1923. Located in the sun-baked heart of Australia, in the mineral rich state of Queensland, Mount Isa had little of the gold Miles was searching for. When he unearthed precious metals of a different colour, he was not to know the Isa would become the site of one of the world's largest underground mining operations.
Today, Xstrata Copper MIM ranks among the world's three leading producers of lead, the five largest producers of silver and a major producer of copper and zinc. Mount Isa has the distinction of being one of the few places in the world where these four metals are found and mined in close proximity.
Given the inherent risks involved in mining, an operation of this magnitude requires first class safety and security systems. The company is diligent in protecting its employees and committed to providing a safe, productive and healthy work environment.
Xstrata Copper MIM prides itself on its safety record and strives for a zero-harm goal. Its emergency and protective services superintendent, Darren Bracey, confirms the complex mix of mining, processing and smelting at Mount Isa presents numerous challenges when it comes to ensuring the safety of employees and general public onsite.
"We must allow for movement of authorised personnel with a minimum of effort, while ensuring all the necessary training, induction and other entry requirements are current," he says.
"We must also be able to ensure that personnel who are not authorised to access certain areas are prevented from doing so. Another challenge for us is having the ability to account for personnel in the event of an incident, particularly in our underground environment."
Bracey says the collection and management of all the associated data is a significant issue in itself - and aligning this with access requests complicates it even more.
To cope with the movements of personnel at MIM and establish a safe and secure environment, the mine originally installed the Cardax UNIX access control system including Cardax Commander architecture to its copper mining site in 1990. Today, the site boasts world-leading security systems technology in the form of cutting-edge Cardax FT, a comprehensive Microsoft Windows-based security system.
The site has been able to extend the life of its five legacy Commanders through the Cardax FT Commander Interface, enabling the site to migrate to Cardax FT hardware architecture over time. Already, 20 Cardax FT Controller 5000s, complemented by three Controller 3000s for integrated intruder alarms management, have been installed. The controllers utilise the company's existing LAN/WAN, reducing the overall labour component of Cardax FT installations.
Ten workstations enable the system to be used as an efficient tool by authorised staff on site, each of whom is assigned operator privileges to report and perform a multitude of functions.
The Cardax FT system employed at Xstrata Copper has several integration applications including a CCTV interface with the CCTV management system. It is integrated with reporter software packaged to provide a customised reporting tool to monitor the whereabouts of underground staff. As well as being interfaced to the company's HR management system, the Cardax FT system also monitors alarms including environmental, fire, intrusion and production alarms and domestic site-associated alarm systems.
A further two software applications are being installed to assist in contractor management. Developed by Compete, a company specialising in systems integration and process re-engineering, the applications mean business managers can directly control the access periods given to each contractor for specific areas. These applications help ensure contractor compliance for site access and generate reports on times spent in a defined area by a person, contract company or other defined unit.
Darren Bracey is quick to praise the Cardax FT system.
"The advanced technology of Cardax FT is flexible enough to meet the changing mining environment. It has enabled better management of contractors. The development of electronic tagging to manage firing (of explosives) underground has significantly reduced risk of injury, as well as reducing the cost of miss-firings often experienced using the old manual tag board systems.
"The system has many different types of hardware that can be adapted to suit the site's needs, while the powerful software lends itself well to integration with other third party software applications to allow better management of security, health, safety, access control and contractor management."
Sjeff Klaassen, from Xstrata Copper's security partner ADT Queensland, says ongoing security reviews and upgrades have become an integral part of the business planning process at Mount Isa with a range of safety management and improvement systems being implemented in line with Xstrata Copper's health and safety policies.
"The way Cardax FT is used and managed at Mount Isa is unique," says Klaassen. "Xstrata Copper uses the Cardax FT system and ADT's services remotely to manage its health and safety, contracts and site security."
Klaassen says the key issue for ADT is service and he is in constant contact with Xstrata Copper regarding its changing needs.
"The beauty of Cardax FT is it is flexible and allows for other third-party interfaces such as PSD or competitive software. And we have installed DVR Interface and Cardholder Challenge at the site."
Klaassen confirms that Xstrata Copper and the mining sector in general place high importance on security.
"The fact that these facilities have explosives on site means they are constantly assessing the risks and reviewing security."
For more information contact Rob McJannett, Cardax, 09614 1773 3137, [email protected], www.cardax.com
Xstrata, a major Swiss-based global mining group, acquired MIM in 2003. Its mining and smelting complex at Mount Isa produces copper anode and lead bullion containing silver and zinc concentrate.
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