VALDESE, N.C. (February, 19th, 2008)— Saft, a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-tech professional batteries, has been selected to power MineTracer™, a wireless miner tracking and communication system developed by Venture Design Services, Inc. (VDSI). Utilizing Saft’s intrinsically safe (IS) MP 174865 IS battery, MineTracer has become the first underground miner tracking system approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a division of the U.S. federal government.

During an emergency, power to coal mines is typically shut off to reduce the risk of industrial methane gas ignition and the obvious danger to the miners underground. In this situation, MineTracer is completely reliant on power from Saft’s single cell MP 174865 IS batteries, installed in the systems Wireless Access Points. The extended-life lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were designed to operate under extreme conditions and are capable of transmitting information on the location of trapped miners for at least 48 hours after an accident.

Fatalities have occurred when first responders were unable to quickly locate trapped miners. The MineTracer system uses a wireless mesh network to provide real-time tracking of a mine worker’s location to within 75 feet. Each miner is issued a personal ID badge or a 2-way text messaging locator device that communicates with the Wireless Access Points to continually relay location-tracking data and text between the miner and the system operator above ground.