Cast Resource Equipment Limited announces $1.9 million Radio Remote deal

August 13,2008

Mike Castron, Technical Sales Manager of Cast Resource Equipment Limited is pleased to announce the delivery of just over 100 New Generation Cattron Radio remotes to Nickel producer Vale Inco in Sudbury Ontario. “We are pleased to continue our long standing relationship with Vale Inco. The development of this product  has been in the works for over two years. The end result will give operators a more efficient and an even  safer product.” Delivery of the product began in March 2008 and should wind up before the end of the year.

Background:

In April 2006, a team made up of management and operators was formed and tasked to conduct a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) of the remote control mucking process.  From this investigation a number of recommendations were drafted and presented to management. 

“The end goal was to have a functionally standard RRC system that when operators move between machines and the machine associated RRC they can expect the same RRC controls and responses with performance tied only to machine limitations”, said Greg Nault, Maintenance Superintendent at Vale Inco East Mines.  

Nault, who headed up the project from the beginning added that “A Best Practices” guideline was prepared that identified each of the different safety systems included in a typical radio remote system. Each of those systems was then assessed to determine the accepted best practice for providing that feature. In the past, CVRD Inco used up to (5) versions of the Cattron RRC systems and none of the different systems were interchangeable.

A number of recommendations for changes were drafted and presented to management. Those changes were approved and have since been incorporated into a new generation of Cattron LHD radio remote control systems. The key changes made to the Cattron RRC systems for LHD’s are as follows:

The development of a universal radio remote control and interface specification.

The new specification allows a single Cattron RRC to have the capability of operating all CVRD Inco LHD’s regardless of LHD make or model. This change will improve the availability of spare Cattron RRC systems, as the “correct one” will always be the next available unit.

New housing design. 

With the upgrade to a new universal or “vanilla” radio system the new design utilizes the latest Cattron transmitter housing design which makes for a slightly smaller, lighter, and more robust transmitter design.  The receiver boxes are now stainless steel that will improve their serviceability and durability. 

Richard Riach, All Mines Fleet Co-ordinator for Vale Inco added that, “Due to the variety and age of LHD (Load Haul Dump) equipment utilized, there are often differences in the associated makes and models of radio transmitters and radio receivers. These differences can result in different operating characteristics and safety system designs.  Therefore, a standardized format for the design and operation of Cattron Radio Remote Control (RRC) devices used at Vale Inco has been put in place. With the standard Cattron RRC being used, and all the current equipment migrating to the updated version, the function and failsafe features of all Cattron radio systems will now be more consistent thus ensuring a safer and efficient working environment”.

For more information contact:

Mike Castron This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Greg Nault This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Richard Riach   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bill Goldie  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it