Vehicles
We own and/or recommend a range of vehicles for geophysical survey, requirements of which can be very demanding and conflicting with mine safety regulations. The low-speed cross-paddock drive-everywhere requirements of towed TEM survey in particular are in contradiction to requirements dictated for the highly controlled environments of mines that are afflicted on us as we survey mine peripheral areas. For bush driving, very simple, often low power, vehicles are required that endure complication of driving through vegetation. Modern pollution and ANCAP safety requirements of complex wiring riddling vehicles with mission critical apparatus and DPF filters that light grassfires have rendered modern highway registered vehicles useless for towed-TEM yet this is now what mines require. For this reason, we looked at quadbikes and ATVs which were rejected for overturning risks (with validity) and settled on keeping our old vehicles for as long as possible and also developing the walk-along electric tractor where the driver is not even on the vehicle but has to walk all day. This has may be rejected because it has LiFePO4 batteries and that may be all too hard.
The Argo is useful for some very difficult environments and has been roll-bar and seatbelt fitted for mine compliance, yet mines do not approve this as they do not have a category to fit it.
In conclusion the cost and likelihood of conducting geophysics on Australian mine sites has changed drastically over the last few years.
