Roobuck’s Project – Illawarra Metallurgical Coal Mines NSW (South32)

Overview

Illawarra Metallurgical Coal Mine is located in the southern coalfields of New South Wales. In 2007, BHP at that time owned Illawarra Metallurgical Coal Mines. in 2015 South32 acquired 100% ownership and operates two underground metallurgical coal mines, Appin mines and Dendrobium mine, along with West Cliff and Dendrobium coal preparation plants (CHPP), producing high-quality metallurgical coal used for steelmaking.

The Challenge:

Roobuck’s development of the Coal Miners Cordless Ex Cap Lamp
In 2007, Kinyun Australia (now known as Roobuck) pioneered the concept of the cordless Miners Cap Lamp. Roobuck recognised there was a need in the market for this form of Cap Lamp technology to resolve operational, cost and OHS issues. BHP also recognised that it needed a Coal Miners Cordless Cap Lamp option and made the pivotal decision to provide practical support to assist with Roobuck’s design and development of the first Ex Certified Cordless LED Cap Lamp using a Lithium battery; including the design and manufacture of its associated Charging Bank.

The Solution:

Milestones of Historical Collaboration (BHP & South32)
In this time, BHP provided lots of “end user” and engineering feedback in the areas of design, material assessment, battery and LED light observations. This resulted in the release in late 2007 of the first model: KC3D-Ex along with its 100-unit Charging Bank model: JY98.
Since 2015, South32, Illawarra Metallurgical Coal mine continued to contribute significantly to further refinements of our Cap Lamp technology with the evolvement of the: KC3E-Ex Cap Lamp along with a new “CB*” Series of Charging bank with (35/53-unit options). South32 also uses Roobuck’s Value series KC2M-Ex Cordless Cap Lamp for its surface operations and CHPP.
KC3E-Ex became the “flagship” model for a number of years; earning an excellent reputation as a reliable and trusted performer in Underground Coal Mines globally. In 2018, this model was replaced by: KC3U-Ex and now in 2020, taking advantage of the latest materials and electronics, Roobuck offers our new Flagship model: KC4E-Ex Cordless Cap Lamp for Coal Mines with the newer “CB*E” series of Charging banks (8/35/53 unit options).

Roobuck estimates that both BHP and South32 alone have purchased in excess of 10,000 Cordless Cap Lamps over this period; and today the new KC4E-Ex Cordless Cap Lamp is now being purchased by South32 (Appin Mine) and many more Coal Mines will follow.