Mining company Sherritt International’s Ambatovy operation, in Madagascar, has commissioned its Cybermine heavy equipment operator training simulators from South African surface and underground mining simulator supplier ThoroughTec Simulation.

“Ambatovy, which is a nickel and cobalt mine situated 80 km from Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, represents the biggest-ever foreign investment in Madagascar and ranks as one of the largest nickel mines in the world,” ThoroughTec Simulation VP Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the US Adam Smallman tells Mining Weekly.

The Cybermine high-fidelity training simulators, commissioned at Ambatovy in May, answer a need for a cost-effective solution, he explains, as well as a need for the safe training of heavy equipment operators.

Ambatovy has received two of the latest generation Cybermine training simulators, along with a containerised six degrees-of-freedom motion-based unit, which was engineered and built to ThoroughTec’s exacting military standards, encompassing ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

The easily interchangeable simulators have been designed to train operators of Caterpillar 777 haul trucks and Caterpillar 6020 excavators.

Bountiful Benefits

Cybermine simulators allow for precise, objective training in a safe and controlled environment, preventing unnecessary exposure to the dangers of the mine site and, thereby, reducing the frequency of accidents.

“Ultimately, they accelerate the development of safe, competent and productive machine operators. “By concentrating on specific tasks and being continuously, autonomously monitored, trainee operators receive training that improves their productivity and eliminates bad habits at the outset,” Smallman explains.

Cybermine mining simulators, he notes, have extremely low running costs which, when coupled with the reduction in pressure on a company’s equipment fleet, as it is free from unproductive training tasks, makes for an “outstanding return on investment”.

“Globally, most world-class mines have added simulators to their training and development programmes and we can now add ourselves to that list,” says Ambatovy mine training superintendent Mason Blum, adding that investing in this technology will reduce the cost of training over time, especially in terms of fuel costs when training operators on the actual equipment.

Blum also believes these simulators will entrench safety procedures.

Mining simulators are able to bridge the gap between the classroom and the “hot-seat” practical training faster by combining visual cues, motion, sound and motor memory with an advanced performance measurement and reporting system to fast-track mining students to the required competency level.

During training, operator proficiency across all operational tasks is measured to allow for subsequent training sessions to be honed to address specific areas of deficiency.

As a result, Smallman explains, less time is spent repeating training on areas already mastered, allowing more time to be focused on the problem areas.

Training in the Developing World

In some developing countries, Smallman notes that it is commonplace that operators might not even have a driver’s licence, yet they are training to use expensive and potentially dangerous heavy equipment.

“The systems do not require the operator to possess any computer skills, or even be literate and the instructor is provided with a variety of integrated training tools, with which to facilitate the delivery of both theoretical knowledge, as well as practical skills and operational techniques, all in a safe, repeatable and objective environment.”

ThoroughTec’s Cybermine simulators have been deployed in developing countries such as Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Mongolia, Namibia, Peru, the Philippines, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“With decades of experience supporting mine operator training throughout the developing world, our range of Cybermine products is uniquely tailored to support the development of a safety conscious, performance-orientated workforce, regardless of operator background or qualification,” says ThoroughTec CEO Justin Collins.

ThoroughTec’s headquarters, research and development and production facility are located in Durban, South Africa, with global sales and support subsidiary offices in Perth, Australia; Santiago, Chile; Toronto, Canada; Salt Lake City, in the US; and in Moscow, Russia.