What are the key products & services that your company is exhibiting at Electra Mining?
ThoroughTec is exhibiting its range of CyberMINETM surface and underground training simulators designed specifically for use by the mining community in training and evaluating operators of heavy equipment.
Although we are exhibiting a CyberMINETM dragline simulator here at Electra-Mining, the CyberMINETM range of simulators that are available “off-the-shelf” is huge, ranging from haul trucks, dozers and excavators to surface rigs and draglines for above ground operations and drill rigs, bolters, loaders and ADTs for below ground operations.

What are its applications?
CyberMINETM simulators are used for the training, re-training and evaluation of operators of high value capital equipment in both surface and underground operations.
With the sustained resource boom, mining operations world wide are continually seeking skilled operators. The global skills shortage, however, is seeing mining operations forced to both head-hunt staff from each other and fast-track the training of new recruits in the operation of equipment.
CyberMINETM training simulators provide the perfect tool with which mining operations may address this challenge. These systems provide highly efficient and effective training of operators, from beginner to advanced, with no loss of production and no safety issues, even when training in the most complex of emergency situations!

What makes the product unique?
Simulation based training versus conventional training is light years ahead in terms of having a real impact on both safety and productivity. Researched advantages of simulation based training include:

• Accelerated learning (proficiency levels reached in shorter time periods);
• Standardised and objective training (operators are trained and evaluated against computer based performance measurements);
• High flexibility (providing training conditions applicable to each training objective)
• Productivity entrenchment (quantified productivity performance feedback entrenches an understanding of productivity requirements)
• Safety in training (training operator response to unsafe or emergency situations impossible to do using conventional training methods);

It must be mentioned that ThoroughTec as a company is unique in that it offers the full spectrum of both surface and underground mining equipment simulators under one roof, simplifying operational training requirements and through-life support for the big mining houses that have surface and underground operations.

Where was the product developed?
All ThoroughTec’s CyberMINETM simulators have been designed and manufactured in South Africa, with inputs from both OEM and user specialists around the globe.
The ThoroughTec team has been involved in the design and development of simulators for the international military and mining communities for close to 20 years and we pride ourselves on the quality and effectiveness of our simulators.
Because ThoroughTec has an extremely strong development capability, new CyberMINETM models and equipment variants are continually being released, based on the requirements gathered from market requirements and in discussions with existing and potential clients.

Has the product been imported or manufactured locally?
A: See 4 Above.

On which projects, if any, has the product been used successfully?
The list is long! Suffice to say that CyberMINETM simulators are in use in most of the larger mines and organisations, including de Beers, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Kumba Resources and so forth, as well as the bigger equipment OEMs such as Sandvik and Atlas Copco.

Is the product exportable?
Most definitely. With the entire CyberMINETM simulator system being housed in a 6m ISO container, transportability around the globe is no problem, by sea, land or air. ThoroughTec has deployed mining simulator units in Namibia, Botswana, Canada and Australia and has intense interest now being generated in many other regions. With the world mining community becoming increasingly aware of the real benefits of simulation based training (namely safety and productivity), and with the continued world-wide resource boom, ThoroughTec is seeing unprecedented demand for its simulators.

Background on the company marketing the product?
ThoroughTec markets and sells all of its own products directly to its clients.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
The bottom line is that simulator based training really makes sense for all the right reasons. If you are not making use of a CyberMINETM simulator in your safety and training programmes, we would really like the opportunity to discuss this with you to see where we can add value to your current operations.