Communicating from Mines

Considering that satellite communication has made the mobile phone a necessity, rather than a luxury, you can imagine how a miner feels when he is unable to use one at work. Mining depths are usually a huge deterrent to mobile phone functioning, so how does the miner down in the mine communicate when he’s in trouble?

This is a science project that has received some serious consideration over the years. At Robinson Run, in West Virginia a wireless system has been put in place to help keep miners in communication with the team on the surface while they mine coal from the knot of tunnels that are actually bigger than Manhattan in size.

An explosion proof transceiver has been rigged up below the ground to enable the miners to send out messages using the conductivity of the magnetic field. Voice or text messages can be sent between 1500 to 2000 feet laterally. It can cut through rock, coal and metal without any trouble. The message barely takes a minute to be transmitted.

Needless to say if you are miner who is likely to get trapped in a cave in, you would surely want to be in the vicinity of this transceiver to be able to ask for help getting out. Till science comes up with something better to help miners, this will have to do.