VEGA remote sensing at REGNARS basalt quarry: safety and control gains for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on Roads & Infrastructure (AU)
30 Second Briefing
VEGA level and pressure sensors are being deployed across REGNARS’ melaphyre (fine‑grained basalt) quarry to monitor extraction, crushing and stockpile management from outside hazardous zones. Non-contact radar units mounted above crushers, transfer chutes and surge bins provide continuous level data through dust and vibration, while pressure transmitters track pump and slurry line performance in the processing plant. The setup allows remote calibration and diagnostics, reducing manual gauge readings on high conveyors and confined hoppers, and giving plant operators tighter control of aggregate feed rates and bunker capacities.
Technical Brief
- VEGA instruments are configured to withstand melaphyre dust abrasion and continuous mechanical vibration in quarry plant.
- Radar and pressure devices are installed on extraction benches, primary crushing, secondary crushing and final screening stages.
- Sensor housings and antenna systems are selected for basalt aggregate impact, with robust sealing against fine dust ingress.
- Remote parameterisation allows technicians to adjust measuring ranges and damping times without entering guarded conveyor areas.
- Diagnostic functions flag signal loss from dust build-up or misalignment, reducing unplanned shutdowns for manual inspection.
- Continuous instrumentation supports compliance with lockout/tagout and confined-space entry rules by minimising in-situ gauge checks.
- Integration into the plant control system enables interlocks to prevent overfilling of bunkers and surge bins, reducing spill hazards.
- Similar non-contact instrumentation architectures are increasingly being adopted in hard-rock quarries handling abrasive volcanic aggregates.
Our Take
VEGA’s appearance across multiple Roads & Infrastructure Magazine pieces, including recent coverage of VEGAPULS deployments at Sto and Quartzline plants, signals a push to standardise its radar-based measurement across both mining and downstream construction materials handling.
Melaphyre and basalt only appear in a handful of keyword-matched pieces in our database, so the use of non-contact sensing on these specific hard rock aggregates is more of a niche application than the cement and screed silo monitoring that dominates other VEGA coverage.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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