Perth company MineARC Systems hopes to develop its ‘refuge chamber’ technology beyond the mining sector to include projects in the nuclear waste, and major road and railway tunnel building sectors.
The chambers started out a decade ago as scrubbing systems, self-contained units designed to clean air in confined spaces to support human life, such as in mine refuge chambers.
But the scrubbing system soon turned into a complete refuge chamber, or shelter, designed to protect people if their working environment suddenly became toxic.
MineARC Systems’ general manager, Geoff Whittaker, said that since 2000 the company had sold units throughout Australia and to Turkey, Indonesia, Ireland, England, Sweden, Canada, and New Zealand.
“When developing a scrubbing system to install into refuge chambers, we identified a number of problems that made the existing chambers unsafe and hazardous,” he said.
“As a result we have developed our own refuge chambers to solve the problems discovered.”
MineARC Systems sold its first refuge to Western Mining in 1998, but teething problems meant the technology was not suitable for use until 2000.
In the past five years, however, business has tripled annually, Mr Whittaker said. “We sell about 40 a year and the starting price is $70,000. We are constantly talking to mining companies about what they want and need and that helps us to develop the unit further.”
Each chamber is like a little house. The smallest built by MineARC Systems is an eight-person unit and the largest a 100-person unit.
Refuge chambers are no longer considered an option in the mining industry but a necessity for the safety and protection of all personnel underground.
The MineARC Systems refuge chamber offers air and electrical systems, construction and utilities.
Some past contracts include a $150,000 system in Sweden for a tunnel-boring unit, a 20-person system to Newcrest Mining in Indonesia, and a 15-person unit for Diavik Diamond mines in Canada.
MineARC Systems offers units for both hard rock mining and tunnel-boring machine applications.
Units can vary depending on what a company wants. For example, the chamber manufactured for the Swedish customer included 15 bunk beds and seating for five people, which can be converted to seating for 20 people. It also has a refrigerator and water cooler, ducted air-conditioning, night vision infrared camera, toilet and hand-wash facility.
