Legislation signed on Thursday by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin requires coal mines to install, among other things, a communication system for reaching miners underground. MST’s PED system is one of the frontrunners likely to be chosen by US mining companies.

Since the legislation was hurried through the West Virginia Legislature – and with other states expected to follow suit – MST’s Missouri-based office has been flooded with requests for more information on how to implement its PED. MST’s head office-based mining engineer Denis Kent flew out of Sydney last week to meet with 35 state government officials and mine operators in West Virginia.

The PED product range was developed in Australia by MST following the two Moura mine disasters of 1986 and 1994 when the Australian coal mining industry, along with legislators, recognised the need to have a system to communicate emergency text messages to miners while underground.

The PED has been used in Australian mines since 1990 and in US mines since 1995. There are currently over 30 PED systems operating in American mines. A recent development by MST is the company’s TRACKER system, which takes PED one step further by locating personnel underground. Both systems have official MSHA approvals for use in underground coal mines.

In the US, PED first came to notice after the 1998 Willow Creek incident in which a goaf fire began filling the mine with noxious fumes. Willow Creek had installed a PED system six months earlier, which allowed a mine-wide evacuation message to be sent to the 45 miners underground at the time; and they were able to get out of the mine before it filled with smoke and fumes.

Both mine management and MSHA acknowledged PED as potentially saving a number of lives.

MST managing director Gary Zamel said the company was fully established in the US market and had the engineering capability and capacity to manufacture increased numbers of PED units as well as support the market in terms of installation and service.

"However, if market demands dictate, and the US market can meet our requirements, then in the future we may well see Mine Site products produced in US for that market," Zamel said.