What new procedures can be adopted to ensure the prompt rescue of miners after a mine collapse?

Question

I claim a complete lack of expertise in this area, so don't hold it against me if I come up with some stupid ideas. I just wonder if there is a way to improve how we look for miners after a collapse.

What if miners began to wear powerful radio transmitters during these operations so that their precise location could be determined in three dimensions after a collapse? Perhaps their three-dimensional position could be cyclically broadcast via radio transmission. At the very least, the strength and source direction of a radio signal would hopefully offer information regarding the location of the miners.

Are these mines just too deep underground for such a thing to work? Then, might fiber-optic cables survive a mine collapse? Perhaps a device kept near the miners could keep track of its own location and transmit this information via cable...

If anyone has thoughts or ideas, speak out. There has to be a solution!

Answer 1

A system to track miners locations at all times would help to pinpoint their locations at the time of the collapse. Afterward, a radio transceiver in the same tunnel might be able to communicate. If they can move somewhere else, it must be open enough for signals to propagate.

It does not seem like fiber optic cable would survive a collapse any better than plain old wires.

Answer 2

I agree, we/they need better communications devices.
I'm a Ham, & radio is not going to work underground.
Simple wiring would be the first thing to break in a fall.
Maybe fibre-optic cable laid on the floor would survive.
But a system of stations could at least pin-point the collapse.