Rio Tinto Dampier Salt, Western Australia

The Customer

Operating over four locations throughout Western Australia, Rio Tinto Minerals Dampier Salt is the world's largest exporter of high quality bulk solar salt. Additional operations also include the mining of gypsum - a very soft mineral primarily sold to the wallboard and cement industries, and talc - also a soft material used in the plastics and paper industries.

The Challenge

Numerous performance and coverage issues were experienced at Rio Tinto Mineral's Port Hedland site. The wide area coverage provided at the main operating site was patchy, intermittent and did not penetrate low areas within "ditches" (canals where pumps and sluice gates are located and where most of the maintenance work is carried out). The second site, located at Rio Tinto's port, had a number of shadowed areas and was also patchy.

These coverage issues created a number of problems for production and general operations. Most importantly however, the issues did not provide adequate communication for personnel working in remote locations on the main site, so safety was being compromised.

The Solution

Tait dealer Communications Australia designed the system for Rio Tinto Minerals to address their requirements. Tait's TB8100 and TB7100 were installed over three locations on site, which improved coverage and performance of the communications network.

A key component of this system was the implementation of an emergency priority channel - a single channel dedicated solely to emergencies, improving health and safety standards.

The system also ensures that if an emergency does arise, unaffected areas of production will not be interrupted, as the dedicated emergency channel ensures that the other channels are kept free for normal business. Troy Cutfield, superintendent project construction, says: "The new system has met all our safety requirements, and restored the workers' confi dence in the radio system."

The TCP-IP Ethernet interface on the TB8100 allowed Communications Australia to connect the base station with Rio Tinto Mineral's Local Area
Network (LAN). This allows any computer connected to the LAN to run network diagnostics, providing a more cost-effective maintenance solution.

Tait's TM8200 mobiles and Tait portables were also implemented as a key component of this system upgrade. The new mobiles and portables were ideal for Rio Tinto's mining operations as their rugged design ensures a high level of reliability in the harsh, salty environment.

Telephone interconnect via cellular telephone further improved the communications network. Members in the field can use their Tait radios to make
telephone calls from the operational area - very handy when they need to talk with someone who may not be on site.