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Globally, artisanal and small-scale gold mining accounts for about 20% of annual gold production.
TUCSON, AZ – May 1, 2013 – Guardvant, Inc., a provider of innovative mining safety technology, is pleased to announce John Capehart will join the company as vice president of global business development. Capehart is an industry veteran
John Capehart
with extensive experience in fatigue monitoring and proximity detection technology and over 14 years of operational mining experience in both precious metals and industrial minerals. He holds a B.Sc. from University of Nevada-Reno and M.Sc. from Michigan Technological University, both in Mining Engineering.
Capehart was formerly vice president of business development for Seeing Machines, and has over 12 years of business development experience with mining technology companies, including Caterpillar Technologies and Advanced Mining Technologies. His market development experience in fleet safety monitoring systems and high-precision GPS applications will be invaluable as Guardvant drives further development of its suite of next-generation technology products for mines.
“We welcome John’s background as a mining engineer with experience and expertise in these areas, and are pleased that he sees Guardvant as the leader in the next generation of this technology,” said Sergio Blacutt, Guardvant’s CEO. “We believe that the technologies we develop to improve safety, performance, and ultimately, production, have a significant role in the future of mining.”
Operator fatigue and blind spots – close proximity areas of reduced operator visibility – are widely recognized as two of the leading causes of mining accidents involving mining equipment. Mines are actively seeking solutions to help combat both problems. Guardvant’s OpGuard and ProxGuard systems, which are installed on heavy equipment and light vehicle fleets, monitor operator behavior for signs of fatigue and distraction and improve equipment operator’s visibility to see objects in blind spots. Guardvant systems alert the operator and supervisor before an accident occurs. OpGuard and ProxGuard can help reduce accidents, improve productivity and save money on wear and tear of vehicles and equipment.
The OpGuard and ProxGuard systems are designed by Guardvant’s engineers who have decades of experience in developing and deploying technology for fleet management and high-precision guidance systems in mines. This ensures a deep understanding of mining operations, fleet management systems, and a focus on reliable, accurate data to give the mine confidence in the long-term performance of the system.
