MMD donates demining rig to The HALO Trust

The rig includes two MMD sizers to process material, ensuring that all mines contained in the soil are crushed or detonated. The unit’s ability to handle a wide variety of soil types – from hard and abrasive to wet and sticky – as well as its remote operation, will remove human contact in the highly sensitive minefields in which The HALO Trust operates.

"We are very grateful to MMD for this generous donation,” said James Cowan, CEO of The HALO Trust. “Once this machine is set to work, it will increase the area of contaminated land we clear each day in heavily mined countries, such as Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. In the places where we work, cleared land simply means more food for farming families and safer routes to school for children.”

The rig has taken five years to develop with support and contributions from ABB, Siemens, Westbury, and Conveyor Units Ltd. It will go to work in Zimbabwe, one of the most highly mined countries in the world.

Small plastic anti-personnel mines – which are extremely difficult to detect – run for hundreds of kilometers close to residential and agricultural land. Containing a relatively small amount of explosives, the MMD sizers are able to contain any detonation that occurs during clearance work. Larger anti-tank mines are detected before entering the sizers and safely removed.

The demining rig is scheduled for shipment to Zimbabwe later in the summer. Once at work, the rig processes soil at a rate of 50 tpy – a significant improvement on previous methods on mine clearance.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/product-news/04072018/mmd-donates-demining-rig-to-the-halo-trust/