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PRODUCT News
December 2015
MODERN MINING
35
According to Professor Jan du Plessis, Non-
executive Director of I-CAT Environmental
Solutions, both underground and open-
cast mining operations are proactively
seeking new methods of reducing the
exposure of their workers to dust.
“Poor dust control negatively affects
the health and safety of all employees and
the quality of life for surrounding commu-
nities. It also negatively affects production
and operating costs of all on-site vehicles
and machinery, thereby impacting on the
bottom line of the operation in the long
run. Using water only as a control mea-
sure is not only a waste of this precious
resource, but over-wetting of inclines and
haulage roads also raises safety risks with
regards to vehicle control,” he comments.
I-CAT Operations Director Anton van
der Merwe says that by using a dust pal-
liative such as RDC 20, GreenGrip and
GreenBit, the frequency of applications
can be dramatically reduced. RDC 20 is a
water soluble anionic polyelectrolyte poly-
mer that has been exclusively developed
by I-CAT for use on temporary roads.
It is an innovative formulation of
blended emulsified co-polymers and ionic
modifiers.When sprayed onto the road sur-
face, RDC 20 forms a durable cross-linked
matrix. The matrix binds fine soil particles
into larger heavier particles, which are less
Dust reduction solutions from I-CAT
prone to become airborne. RDC
20 is used on temporary roads,
as it is a cost efficient means to
improve road and dust condi-
tions exponentially.
Van der Merwe adds that
GreenGrip is a natural polymer-
based gravel road sealant. “It
is an environmentally safe alternative
to chemically-based products for semi-
permanent gravel roads on mines and
residential areas. The solution produces
a durable, smooth and dust free sur-
face with fewer maintenance intervals.
For permanent dust roads, I-CAT offers a
bitumen-based dust suppression solution
called GreenBit,” he elaborates.
I-CAT also offers its locally engineered
and manufactured Dust Monster (DM 40,
DM 70 and DM 110) mist cannons for dust
suppression in open-pit areas where load-
ing and off-loading of aggregate occurs. It
is also suitable for use on stockpiles and
any large dust generating areas. Van der
Merwe explains that the Dust Monster
range of machinery minimises the effects
of dust by creating an ultra-fine mist that
attracts dust and encapsulates the air-
borne particles, before driving them to the
ground.
I-CAT also imports the internation-
ally recognised SCRUBmist dry mist dust
The Dust Monster boasts a ‘throw’ of more than 100 m.
suppression system, which removes respi-
rable and inhalable dust particles from
the air with minimal water usage, and no
collateral damage to property. It works
by atomising water into minute droplets
5 micron (µm) to 15 µm in size, which are
electrostatically attracted to dust particles
and form agglomerations that subse-
quently fall out of the air.
For dust suppression and dust manage-
ment on active or inactive tailings storage
facilities, I-CAT offers the TDS 2005 tail-
ings dam seal solution – a matrix blend
of a patented anionic surfactant and
other environmentally-friendly binding
products.
The unique properties of this liquid
gel allow it to penetrate the surface of the
dump and open soil areas, creating a dura-
ble bond that binds loose aggregate by
forming a porous crust that allows water
to penetrate the surface, without being
washed away under heavy precipitation.
Anton van der Merwe, I-CAT, tel (+27 12) 349-1441
Supplier of PPE wins Leadership Award
Select PPE was recently awarded the Frost
& Sullivan 2015 Southern African Personal
Protective Equipment Visionary Innovation
Leadership Award at a prestigious cer-
emony that hosted 140 of Africa’s top
innovative companies at Table Bay Hotel in
Cape Town.
The annual award recognises outstand-
ing achievement and superior performance
in areas such as leadership, technological
innovation and strategic product develop-
ment. Select PPE’s Sales Director, Dries van
Tonder, accepted the award on behalf of the
400-member South African-based company
for its innovative PPE solutions for women
and software that facilitates greater PPE
control to previously unreachable markets.
To date, PPE has been specifically
designed for men and does not properly
fit a woman’s form, reducing not only its
protective functioning but also the popu-
larity among women in the industry. Select
PPE, one of the few suppliers of female PPE
through its field-researched programme,
Women in Industry, has pioneered more
accurate form-fitting equipment that sig-
nificantly enhances overall industry safety
standards.
Regarding the innovative software the
company has developed, this challenges
decades-old business models in a move
away from paper-controlled business trans-
actions towards online integration. Named
PPE Solution, the software provides real-
time information on all PPE users and daily
usage, controlled by an application-spe-
cific Issuing Protocol (IP). This IP includes
an assessment of the type and quantity of
protective equipment needed, automatic
replenishment of stock, and alerts the head
of safety when an employee is at risk.
PPE Solution not only facilitates a safer
working environment and reduces opera-
tional costs for clients, but also helps
mitigate possibilities of accidents and
potential litigation costs. The solution
addresses the industry-wide challenge
of PPE abuse by logging staff-specific
PPE onto their clock cards as a form of
PPE identification, alerting managers
to potential PPE abuse with individual
product records.
Select PPE has also developed solutions
for small-scale PPE. This unique online
capability has reportedly enabled the
company to capture markets that have tra-
ditionally been hard to access. Previously,
smaller operations with 150 to 350 employ-
ees were difficult to supply with PPE, as it
was not economically viable to have on-site
facilities. Select PPE’s software, online store
and ‘vending machine’ for PPE afford these
smaller customers access to the full ben-
efits of a holistic PPE solution.
Select PPE, tel (+27 11) 296-3600