General News
6 December, 2022
Spear of invention
A LODDON-MADE invention has claimed top prize in the Australian Mining Prospect Awards. The SafetySpear developed by Leigh Sutton in a shed on his Logan farm beat 20 other nominations for the innovative mining solution prize at the Perth awards...
A LODDON-MADE invention has claimed top prize in the Australian Mining Prospect Awards.
The SafetySpear developed by Leigh Sutton in a shed on his Logan farm beat 20 other nominations for the innovative mining solution prize at the Perth awards ceremony..
A mining industry veteran at the Fosterville site near Bendigo, Leigh said SafetySpear was designed to better protect underground workers and equipment from from the hazards of falling drill rods.
“Safety Spear plugs the drill hole remotely with an innovative, high-impact absorbing fall-arresting system,” he said.
“This hazard has been around since the beginning of mechanical mining and the SafetySpear is only one of two engineered solutions in the world, that is how hard this hazard has been to solve.
“The Prospect Awards covers all mining in Australia, open cut, underground, coal and quarry, with all the big names vying for a chance to be in the spotlight, and yet an invention that was developed in a farmer’s shed at Logan took this highly-valued award home.”
Leigh said that while light-weight at only 3.5kg, SafetySpear can easily stop a speeding impact force of 33 tonnes in under a 10th of a second, dispelling the underground mining myth thatsomething had to be heavy to be heavy-duty.
“It can be installed within minutes and is corrosion resistant, something that has not been seen before and mining companies love it for this.”
Leigh said production of SafetySpear followed years of above-ground research and development in a purpose built high-impact test facility at Logan.
He said initial development was followed by “gruelling underground testing at mine sites in different states of Australia, then more 24/7 operational testing at a variety of mines, ground conditions, operators and mining machines”.
“This was to make sure we got the end product right, there can be no mistakes when it comes to someone’s wellbeing.
“The truth is the SafetySpear will silently save someone’s life and they won’t even know it; they will go home safe to their families and that my friends is what we all want,” he said.
“The SafetySpear has only been on the market for just 18 months and it is already in three countries, with more wanting it on their shores and in their mines to protect workers,” Leigh said.