What’s New DUST SUPPRESSOR

John Morgan, an IMS specialist hit upon the idea when he noticed that a spray used for flue temperature control in Inco Ltd.’s nickel refinery in Sudbury, Ont., created a fog. Morgan then redesigned the nozzle to withstand the rigors of the underground environment. The nozzle creates a fog which produces water droplets fewer than 50 microns in diameter. This fine fog attracts airborne dust and settles out of the air quickly, taking the dust with it. The nozzle is being tested at drawpoints and around muckpiles at the Renabie gold mine in northern Ontario.

A similar nozzle, shaped like a pig’s tail, has been used by Rio Algom, Falconbridge Ltd.’s Kidd Creek mine and Inco Ltd. for the same purpose for several years now. Senior ventilation supervisor at Inco’s Frood mine, Denis Lefebvre, began testing this nozzle in 1985.

One larger model of the pig’s tail nozzle (manufactured by Bete Fog Nozzle of the U.S. and marketed in Canada by IMS) creates no electro- static charge and can produce 60 U.S. gallons of water per minute. It has, therefore, been used as a fire control system in underground garages at Inco as well.

For a typical drawpoint application, Morgan recommends either the (3.8 gallons per minute) or the (15 gallons per minute) unit. Circle Reply Card No.#*. Compact Excavator

A 29,000-lb excavator, equipped with a 5/8-cu-yd bucket, has been introduced by Liebherr-America of Newport News, Va.

The crawler-mounted excavator (called the R900B) has rated dig and breakout forces of 15,450 lb and 18,970 lb respectively, and is powered by an air-cooled, 4-cylinder Deutz diesel engine producing 75 HP at 2,000 r.p.m.

Equipped with a 14-ft gooseneck boom and a 9-ft, 2-inch stick, the R900B can dig to a depth of 18 ft, 4 inches. At ground level the shovel can reach about 27 ft and maximum dumping height is about 17 ft.

Lifting capacity varies from 4,220 lb over the end and 2,610 lb over the side.

Other features include: excellent all-around visibility, heavy-duty cast steel components, hydraulic cushioning and forged 1-piece cylinder rods and eyes on all cylinders and variable displacement, in-line axial piston pumps. Circle reply card No. b Rugged Color Monitor A color monitor called the RCM- 1490 is being marketed by KMS Advanced Products of Michigan. It is an adaptation of a flat-screen Zenith color monitor.

Features include: an ability to withstand severe shock and vibration over a wide range of temperatures and humidity; removable, water-resistant front and rear covers; positive-pressure, filtered, forced-air cooling; and extensive electro-magnetic interference shielding.

Available in portable or rack- mounted versions. Circle Reply Card No. b Drilling Thrust Monitor

Heathwood Engineering of Kirkland Lake, Ont., has recently completed field testing on a device designed to measure drilling thrust at the bit on raise boring machines and deep-hole diamond drills.

The microprocessor-based device automatically compensates for rod weight, hole angle, water buoyancy, hole friction and other factors.

Shop and field testing by J.S. Redpath Ltd. has shown an overall accuracy of better than 1%.

The Thrust Computer, as the unit is called, is available in two models. The model TC1-E is a stand-along instrument mounted in an EEMAC 4 enclosure, complete with all selector switches, lights and a panel meter. The model TC1 is designed to be incorporated into new or existing drill consoles. No operator’s lights and panel meters are supplied. Circle reply card No. b Computerized Lab Records

A computerized lab information management system ideally suited for environmental or assay labs has been introduced by Applied Research Laboratories of California.

The system, called Astral, is based on Digital’s MicroVAX computer. Features include automated “decision- making” and report generation plus a “security guard” to prevent unauthorized tampering with data.

On-line help information is also available. Circle Reply Card No. b

]]>