Optech acquires exclusive patent rights for underground-cavity-monitoring technology

Optech Incorporated (Toronto, ON, Canada) has assumed full ownership of certain patents directed to underground laser-based cavity-scanning devices.

In the late 1980s, Noranda Incorporated's Technology Center (Montreal, QC, Canada) developed and then patented technologies for remote, contactless measurements of stopes, boreholes, and other underground mine features (a stope is a steplike excavation of ore). These technologies culminated in Optech's development of its commercial product, the Cavity Monitoring System (CMS). The CMS was originally called the Mast Volumetric Laser by Noranda. Optech has been manufacturing, marketing, and selling the CMS under license from Noranda since 1991. The technology has been a key driver in the long and enduring success of Optech's rugged and field-proven CMS system, which is now in use in hundreds of mines worldwide on all inhabited continents.

The CMS measures the 3-D shape of an underground space such as a void or cavity in an underground mine. Via laser-based surveying, the instrument captures thousands of points per minute; the data is used to determine detailed characteristics of the mine, as well as to generate comprehensive drawings.

"Optech has taken full ownership of the original Noranda-developed intellectual property. The patents highlight many features, including the continuous scanning of elevations using a rotating laser rangefinder complete with a support system that enables it to be deployed into underground cavities," says Brent Gelhar, Optech's Vice President of Sales and Product Strategy. "While other manufacturers have tried to fill this market space, none has been able to offer such a compelling solution. Our successes over the last 18 years are testaments to the strength of this fine technology."

Optech continues to develop and enhance the core technology of the CMS, which is intellectual property protected by patent.