Skip to content

Deal with Sandvik puts innovation centre clients in driver’s seat

NORCAT is quickly becoming a virtual playground for mining professionals looking for hands-on machinery training, with the goal of improving health and safety in the industry.
NORCAT
NORCAT is adding more mining equipment simulator training capacity.

NORCAT is quickly becoming a virtual playground for mining professionals looking for hands-on machinery training, with the goal of improving health and safety in the industry.

The NORCAT Mining Equipment Simulation Training Centre in Sudbury is doubling their simulation training capacity in the coming weeks, thanks to a strategic partnership with mining equipment supplier Sandvik, announced on March 7.

“The key aspect is going to be safety,” said Jason Bubba, NORCAT’s director of training and development.

“What we can do in the mining equipment simulator is different from the real world. Essentially we can measure everything an operator does in the simulator,” said Bubba. “The operators are scored on absolutely everything they do so over the course of the training. We can improve on their scores and they can be more efficient.”

Greg Cotnam, a production and maintenance trainer at Glencore in Sudbury, has used the equipment himself and regularly sends his employees. He said the machines offer something on-site training can’t deliver.

“You can simulate things that you can’t throw at a guy down here, like a machine catching on fire. When you get in a panic situation, at least you can handle it,” said Cotnam. “I’ve run bolters for 20 years, and I didn’t think it would be that realistic. With the noise and the feeling, it’s quite the experience.”

The partnership involves the addition of a second ThoroughTec simulator to their space. Each simulator has four different pieces of machinery, and the new one will initially include a Sandvik drill, loader, bolter and haul truck.

The Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, also known as NORCAT, is a not-for-profit innovation centre. Its training facility, which opened in 2014, is booked solid by local and Ontario mines, said Bubba.

The new addition will allow them to take on more clients and offer training for a wider range of equipment.

“We have to tailor our training on what our clients need,” said Bubba. “Our existing customers now have access to a larger range of equipment cabs they can be trained on, which is enhancing the catalogue.”

Sandvik clients, in turn, have a local option for training when they buy new equipment.

Along with practical training, clients receive theoretical training in a curriculum developed by NORCAT.

Bubba said the centre saves mining companies from buying and housing their own expensive simulation equipment.

Cotnam agreed and said it means Glencore doesn’t have to take their multi-million-dollar machinery out of production to train employees.

“There are efficiencies and benefits to collaborate together,” added Bubba.