Safety equipment manufacturer Mine Safety Appliances (MSA) Africa is developing a new cap lamp that is targeted at the platinum-mining industry.

The development process is at an advanced stage and a sample of this new-generation cap lamp has been manufactured and is awaiting approval by the South African standards boards, says MSA Africa product manager for instruments Emmanuel Manaka.

The company invests millions of rands yearly into the research and development (R&D) of the latest technologically advanced products.

MSA Africa reports that the colour rendition index (CRI), which is a light spectrum that ensures that all natural colours are present on the cap lamp output light and that the colours do not overshadow one another, is a significant factor for the platinum-mining industry as the visibility of the reefs is crucial, because platinum is almost white in colour.

“Platinum underground mining requires a light with a CRI of not less than 30. This helps miners underground to easily identify different rock patterns. This new cap lamp will provide more than 3 000 lux of lighting, compared with the previous cap lamp, which only provides 
1 600 lux of lighting,” he explains.

One of the reasons behind the R&D of this type of cap lamp is to take advantage of technological advancement and meet the proposed new safety standards, he says.

The Department of Minerals and Energy has established that most accidents underground occur owing to lack of light – hence, the need for a product with more lighting capabilities is critical, comments Manaka.

New features of this cap lamp include extended run-time duration for the main beam, owing to the use of light-emitting diodes, which consume less energy, com-pared with the previous lead acid cap lamps, which provide a run time of about 13 hours, he says.

“It has been two years since the R&D for this cap lamp started and it will probably be launched by the first quarter of 2011, as we are still awaiting approval. As soon as we are granted the South African standards rating, the product will be rolled out globally because South African standards are high and are internationally recognised,” he adds.

The upgraded cap lamp weighs about 690 g owing to all the added technology but it is still one of the lightest cap lamps on the market.

The cap lamp is also intended for other underground mining industries, such as the gold and coal industries.

The company reports that the product is a first of its kind for the South African platinum-mining industry.