Hexagon Mining installs safety automation gear at Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mine

6th January 2021 By: Simone Liedtke - Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer

Hexagon Mining has completed a significant safety installation at Gold Fields Ghana's Tarkwa mine, with more than 220 mine vehicles equipped with Hexagon’s MineProtect Collision Avoidance System (CAS).

MineProtect’s operator alertness system, personal alert and tracking radar were also installed with minimal delays, despite pandemic-related lockdowns preventing travel by Hexagon’s South African staff into Ghana.

Local partners and technology, such as remote body cameras, helped to ensure that installation and training stayed on schedule, the company said on January 6.

Hexagon Mining’s autonomous VP Andrew Crose said that a willingness to embrace change was “key to the successful installation and that Tarkwa staff’s willingness to adapt to the limitations posed by the Covid-19 pandemic was “hugely important”.

“The resourcefulness displayed by everyone involved was impressive. It ensured that we completed the project with minimal delays, almost to the original project dates,” he enthused.

Gold Fields Ghana executive VP and Gold Fields West Africa head Alfred Baku, meanwhile, said the installation “will augment our existing safety management system as it serves as an additional layer of safety intervention to help prevent injuries and fatalities, as well as equipment damage”.