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Comment by askvictor | Hacker News Reader

> It vanished between January 11 and January 16, but its loss was not reported for more than a week.

That doesn't seem that quick or professional to me...

I'm guessing that's because you don't work in a 800 million tonne per annum mining industry that routinely ships heavy equipment 1,000 - 2,000 km backwards and forwards and has done so for 50 years.

The equipment was logged when loaded on the 11th, the load sat and then travelled for a couple of days and was unloaded and then sat until it was first inspected (to have the capsule replaced) at which point the loss was noted and reported.

Feel free to explain how you would do this better in a cost effective manner.

Dangerous items should be prioritised.

That would be a goal, and by which means would do so in the above mentioned example?

For example: if they know there is a radioactive source on board the vehicle they should check for its presence and integrity as soon as it arrives at its destination.

Ideally they should check for its presence on board at the end of each transport day, perhaps by measuring the level of radiation near the box which contains the item.

I heard a story about someone who checks in a starting pistol (used for running races) because it ensures his luggage will never be lost or messed with.

Many photographers do this. Put a gun in with your Pelican of photo gear and it never gets lost.

Sure:

    BHP Billiton has claimed a West Australian record for the biggest open cut mine blast after detonating 11 million-tonnes of iron ore at its Jimblebar mine. More than 50 hectares of ground at the Pilbara mine was set off with more than 6,400 detonators.

The explosives used to create small atomic bomb scale blasts are carefully watched, as are the toxic chemicals used in gold processing, the crushers and screens which can make jam out of people, the HV electrics that can discharge and kill, the many propane tanks that can rupture and explode, the unstable stope slopes that can collapse and bury, ...

Come to think of it, everything about heavy mining is dangerous.

No one in W.Australian mining history has yet been killed by a stray Cs-137 source so in realistic terms they come a long way down the list in a domain that has seen hundreds of deaths per annum in the past.

I just checked some of the articles online, and didn't find any information on the capsule itself. More specifically, what it is used for in mining equipment.

> The lost capsule is a density gauge, commonly used in mining and forms part of a level sensor.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/how-wa-authorities-se...

... possibly like this?

https://www.vega.com/en-au/products/product-catalog/level/ra...

Cool, thanks a lot!

> > It vanished between January 11 and January 16, but its loss was not reported for more than a week.

> That doesn't seem that quick or professional to me...

Wikipedia says they started to unload the shipment on 25th, found out about the missing item, and reported to authorities on the same day.

"not discovered" would've been more accurate than "not reported".

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