Mining Simulators and Virtual Training

INTERNATIONAL MINING – OCTOBER 2011

ThoroughTec Simulation, one of the well established players in mining equipment simulation has had some very interesting new sales recently. Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia recently selected ThoroughTec’s latest generation CYBERMINE4 mining simulators (IM, April 2010, p71). Richard Storrie, the Technical Services Manager at Oyu Tolgoi, advocated the purchase of the simulators for the mine afterwitnessing the results attained by Aurora College and Rio Tinto’s Diavik mine in the Northern Territories, Canada.

“Oyu Tolgoi’s development workforce includes local employees and highly skilled expatriates entrusted with training and supervision. As mine development morphs into full-scale production however, more and more experienced local operators will be needed and Oyu Tolgoi is committed to having a minimum of 90% of its workforce employed from the local community. To effectively train and up-skill these local operators for a mega mine like Oyu Tolgoi will require specialised training equipment and an exceptional training program,” said Storrie.

Wesfarmers Curragh, one of Australia’s largest independent coal producers, has chosen to integrate CYBERMINE4 surface mining simulators into its training programs. Construction works are ongoing for the expansion of the mine up to 8.5 Mt/y of export metallurgical coal capacity. Project completion is expected in the March quarter of 2012.

“The world’s leading mine sites and training schools are increasingly aware that they need to integrate simulators into their training programs.”

ThoroughTec will also develop customised CYBERMINE ‘own mine worlds’ to replicate the operating conditions of the mine in the simulators, increasing the effectiveness of the training experience. Student operators of each of the equipment variants will therefore be familiar with Curragh’s mining environment before entering the mine.

The Assmang Khumani iron ore surface mine will be significantly improving its capability to enhance operator competency with the acquisition of two CYBERMINE4 mining simulators. Khumani mine has also purchased interchangeable cabs for Komatsu’s 860E AC haul truck and PC5500 hydraulic face shovel. The new units will not only enable Khumani’s HR, engineering and mining management to train on loading, hauling and digging, but also on more advance equipment like drill rigs in the near future. ThoroughTec says its “attentiveness in supporting customers, along with the flexible approach to their development schedule and low cost of ownership model and value for money service plans were accredited as key differentiators with their competitors.”

Mark Walker, ThoroughTec Simulation’s Executive Director of Mining & Construction said: “Assmang Khumani’s selection of ThoroughTec Simulation is a significant validation of our new fourth generation CYBERMINE4 mining simulators’ leadership in the market, with the recognition that military level simulators in the mining industry is the future and it further emphasises our dominance in the Northern Cape area in South Africa.”

ThoroughTec says CYBERMINE4 is the industry’s “only dual-role (interchangeable between surface and underground) simulator. It is upgraded with many new features including a full 360° panoramic display, enhanced reporting software, and two HD instructor screens in an enlarged classroom environment.

ThoroughTec produces surface mining simulators for rigid trucks, ADTs, drill rigs, excavators, shovels, dozers, loaders, draglines and graders. Drill rigs, roof bolters, LHDs, haulers, XLP (extra low profile) dozers, locomotives and scalers are among its underground simulators.

“Although the mining industry’s use of simulation is relatively young, the world’s leading mine sites and training schools are increasingly aware that they need to integrate simulators into their training programs,” Walker said.

“You can’t imagine a pilot not training on a simulator before taking his first solo flight, so why isn’t it the norm for operators of 90 to 360-plus tonne mining trucks to enhance their competency?” Safety, productivity, emergency scenarios, damage to an expensive vehicle and excessive fuel usage and emissions were among matters that could be addressed with simulator training, he said.

America’s first advance underground mine training simulator to be acquired by a University is a ThoroughTec CYBERMINE4.The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) Mining and Petroleum Training Services (MAPTS) Director Dennis Steffy said: “From start to finish, ThoroughTec’s professionalism has been a real treat, not to mention that they had all the underground equipment that each mine required.”

The University of Alaska Southeast’s goal is to develop a world-class training centre that meets the workforce training needs of the mining industry by providing high quality, accessible training for both new and experienced miners. The simulator will be housed at the UA Center for Mine Training, located in Juneau’s UAS Technical Education Center and will have the ability to train students in modules fully representing an articulated haul truck (CAT ADT 45B), LHD (Atlas Copco ST14) and bolter (Atlas Copco Boltec MC).

The timing of the new acquisition will coincide with the ramping up of Kensington and other mines. “This was a missing piece of the puzzle for training miners from Alaska to be productive and safe from the first day on the job,” said MAPTS Director Dennis Steffy. “It will vastly improve the opportunities of students for mining employment”. More than 700 students are currently enrolled in mining classes at UAS. Kensington mine employs 60 UAS trained miners.

Walker said: “We are pleased to see the superiority of our simulators is being well recognised in North America. This follows recent expansion of our presence in the region, with the Yukon Mine Training Association (YMTA) also acquiring an additional purchase of six machine simulator cabs to support both surface and underground machine training.” YMTA’s Training Manager Jennifer Russell said: “ThoroughTec is a great company to deal with because of their high levels of customer service.”

*Extract from International Mining – October 2011