Miners advised to protect conveyors against lightning

Mining conveyors are prone to being struck by lightning, owing to the vast area they cover, says earthing systems, lightning, surge and overvoltage protection specialist Advanced Lightning Protection financial manager Lee-Anne Chapman. Chapman explains a lightning bolt as “basically a large conductor with a massive electromagnetic field around it that can extend for up to 1 km from the actual strike”, and that all electronic and electrical equipment will be exposed to the magnetic field during the strike, as well as to a second, collapsing magnetic field once the strike is over.