DNS - Successful In-Mine Test of MagneLink MCS Conducted by Lockheed Martin

An in-mine test of its MagneLink Magnetic Communication System or MCS has been conducted by Lockheed Martin (News - Alert).  On June 15-16 the testing was conducted at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH Test Mine in Bruceton, Pa.

The mining industry's post-accident emergency communications requirements have been met by the wireless, through-the-earth communications system, MagneLink MCS. Voice communication and texting are provided by the system. This helps in giving trapped miners fail-safe communication during a catastrophe.

Magnetic waves are transmitted through the earth by the system. These waves are transmitted without the transmission wires and in-ground infrastructure which is required to communicate via standard radio transmissions. The system is portable and has two-way voice and text capability. The system can operate at ranges which are sufficient to communicate from the surface into deep underground mines.

In a release, Warren Gross, MagneLink MCS program manager, Lockheed Martin said, "During the test, MagneLink MCS performed superbly. The system interfaced with hand-held radios similar to the Miner Emergency Radios (MERs) and functioned as a multi-band receiver, establishing communications with multiple MagneLink MCS units without the requirement for the MCS units to be on the same channel to receive transmissions."

A significant emergency communications capability to the mining industry will be brought by MagneLink MCS. This will be especially useful in case of miners being trapped due to an accident where there will be no other means of communicating with rescue teams on the surface. 

Gross added that this unique system has been successfully developed by Lockheed Martin after leveraging on its advanced communications and signal processing expertise. The system in coordination with NIOSH will be helpful to save miners' lives following a mine accident.

The MagneLink MCS Engineering Development Model's functionality for voice and text communications was successfully demonstrated at a commercial mine in Dilliner, Pa. in December 2009. MagneLink MCS was tested at the Contrary Portal of CONSOL Energy's Buchanan Mine in Mavisdale, Va. in March 2010. Two-way voice communications to a depth of 1550 feet and two-way text communications to a depth in excess of 1550 feet was successfully demonstrated by Lockheed Martin.