There’s nothing as important as celebrating innovations in safety. The wellbeing of each and every miner is paramount, and advancements to make mining safer deserve recognition. Redpath, in a collaboration with SafeSight Exploration Inc., was recognized in April 2021 with the Ontario Mine Contractors Safety Association’s Safety Innovation Award for 2020 for developing a Rail Runner to aid in safe use of the Mechanized Raise Climber, equipment which is regularly used in vertical raise mining.
The Rail Runner allows for autonomous inspection using HD video and LiDAR technologies. It’s a unique utility robot that can inspect the entire raise, completing an assessment of 1,000 feet of raise and returning to the operator in under twenty minutes. Stephen Korski, Manager of R&D for Redpath, described it as “a significant safety development for mining where potential risk can be reduced with the use of the Rail Runner.” Every development to create safer mines is essential, and Redpath is leading the way.