MINE LIGHTING report excellent results. The site has also adopted our selective yellow lens option for the fog lamp circuit on their Komatsu ultraclass trucks.”
Judd adds that if glare was the first universal complaint, dust was the second.“ Every region- from the red dirt of the Pilbara to the powdery overburden in the American southwest- has its own version of the same challenge: suspended dust particles that scatter light and obscure depth. Our engineers revisited something that’ s been known in automotive and aviation for decades: colour temperature changes how the human eye perceives contrast. A cooler white light may look clean on paper, but in dusty or foggy conditions, it reflects off particles and forms a visible haze. A slightly warmer, selective yellow spectrum, on the other hand, penetrates further and provides higher visual contrast.”
Vision X began experimenting with selective yellow lenses and coatings on several mine sites.“ The results were immediate- operators reported clearer vision of berms, road texture, and other vehicles even in heavy dust. What stood out most was how quickly they adapted to it. It didn’ t require retraining or a new lighting strategy; it simply made the environment more readable. This wasn’ t about adding another‘ feature.’ It was about returning visual control to the people behind the wheel, who spend 12-hour shifts interpreting terrain through layers of dust, fatigue, and glare.”
Finally, he discussed looking at lighting as a system rather than a product, where efficiency then takes on a new meaning.“ For years, our goal was to get more lumens per lamp. But in mining, every watt matters- not just for fuel efficiency but for electrical stability, especially on older equipment where the charging system is under constant demand.”
The development of the Vision X Tremor range came directly from that understanding.“ By pushing luminous efficacy beyond 110 lumens per watt, we achieved equivalent light output with nearly half the power draw. In field terms, that means a 30-watt Tremor lamp can replace what used to require 55 watts- less load on alternators, fewer wiring failures, and a measurable improvement in system reliability.”
But the Tremor wasn’ t just about numbers. Judd says it is built to survive mining reality: constant vibration, high ambient temperatures, and washdowns that would cripple lesser lights.“ Every unit is tested up to 60Grms vibration and rated to IP68 / 69K. When you’ ve stood on a bench at midnight in freezing rain and watched a light fail mid-shift, you understand that reliability isn’ t a specification- it’ s survival.”
The Tremor lamp has just been launched in the USA and Australia. The current focus is on the retrofit market, though Vision X has already begun discussions with an OEM partner. It also has active trials underway- one at a surface mine in Utah, and two in Colombia( both surface and underground applications). Under the Vision X parent company, Brown and Watson International, the Tremor will be marketed as Narva in Australia and as Vision X throughout the rest of the world.
Judd concludes:“ What ties all these advancements together- anti-glare optics, selective yellow, Tremor’ s efficiency- is a change in mindset. For a long time, lighting design reacted to field feedback: fix what breaks, replace what burns out, make it brighter. Now, we’ re moving toward anticipating operator needs, designing with an understanding of how light interacts with both the environment and human perception.
Lighting is no longer a commodity; it’ s a contributor to safety culture. When operators feel less visual strain, they make better decisions. When lighting exposes hazards clearly, incidents decrease. When the product lasts longer, maintenance teams can focus on more critical tasks. That’ s the evolution we’ re witnessing. It’ s an industry-wide realisation that visibility is not about quantity of light but about quality of sight.” The next step of course will be deeper integration- lighting that communicates with machines, adjusts dynamically to conditions, and minimises its own energy footprint without compromising visibility. But even as the technology evolves, the mission remains simple: deliver light that helps people work safer and smarter.
Scorpius XTR mining lights are also fitted with coloured bezels for quick identification of the installed light pattern, with glare-free, high beam, wide flood and flood options
Introducing Scorpius XTR for mining
Nordic Lights recently introduced its Scorpius XTR premium work light series for mining – the range has wide applicability including on mining excavators, bulldozers, track dozers, drill rigs, mining trucks, articulated trucks, dump trucks, shovels, wheel dozers, crushers, underground haulers, LHDs and more. It says the Scorpius XTR is built for heat, vibration, dust, and daily punishment – with a number of attributes that make it well suited to mining markets – it comes in 24V only – simplifying fleets and
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