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The Rio Tinto Block Cave Knowledge Centre of Excellence at Northparkes Mine has been officially opened, and features a state-of-the-art CYBERMINE4 underground mining simulator.
The $13 million Centre of Excellence, opened by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales, is the world’s first such centre dedicated to block cave mining and will play an important role in the sharing and development of knowledge around safety, productivity, technical expertise and technology in the Rio Tinto group worldwide.
“To be chosen as the simulator supplier for such a prestigious and discerning training institute is a wonderful accolade,” says ThoroughTec Managing Director, Rob Letschert. “ThoroughTec strives to build the most reliable, realistic mining simulators on the market, so every time an underground training institution of this calibre chooses us over our competitors is a confirmation that we are at the top of our game.”
According to Rio Tinto Copper chief executive Andrew Harding, “Block cave mining is safer, more cost-effective and can be done on a much larger scale than traditional underground mining methods. It requires highly specialised skills, and this new centre will cement our leadership in developing and operating block cave mines as we move to the next generation of orebodies.
The most efficient and cost effective way of developing these specialised operator skills, for both new recruits and experienced operators converting to block-cave mining, is through 
CYBERMINE4 training. The 360° high-fidelity display totally immerses the trainee in the mining environment, while the simulation software accurately models the behavioural characteristics of the equipment being simulated. External interactions with the environment, such as a drill-rock face interactions or tyre-terrain interactions, are all mathematically modelled for accurate, authentic feedback.
Many mining experts, including those at Rio Tinto, believe that the use of block cave mining will grow substantially in the future as mines are forced to mine deeper deposits. As block-cave mining develops further and new technologies come onto the market, ThoroughTec will be uniquely positioned to simulate these technologies, to the benefit of advanced mining education facilities such as The Rio Tinto Block Cave Knowledge Centre of Excellence. Military vehicles are incredibly complex, even more so than the most advanced mining equipment, and therefore the hardware and software that ThoroughTec has developed over the past 20 years to simulate the battlefield is more than capable of simulating mining equipment and the mine site, not just now, but well into the foreseeable future. And thanks to the largest development pipeline in the industry, ThoroughTec is capable of simulating new technology soon after it is introduced, allowing mine centres like that at Northparkes to timeously institute ongoing refresher training and staff development.
A purpose-built simulation facility makes up an integral part of the 1200m2 Northparkes training centre. Because this is a classroom environment, Northparkes opted for the CYBERMINE4 Fixed Facility Unit, as opposed to the containerised systems that are more commonly used on mine sites for their durability, extreme weather proofing and transportability. The Fixed Facility Unit features the same training capabilities as the containerised system, including the unique ability to host both underground and surface cabs on the same base with only the addition of an adaptor plate, but is more suitable for a classroom environment for group teaching. For the first phase of the project, a Sandvik LH514E loader cab was paired with the base unit.
To ensure authenticity and accuracy in training, Northparkes also purchased an own mine world. This entails an exhaustively researched and ultra-realistic visual recreation of the Northparkes mine site, allowing their operators to train in the same environment that they work in. This is only one of the areas in which ThoroughTec offers customisation, along with client-specific equipment and operating procedures.
To further equip trainee operators, CYBERMINE4 simulators allow the instructor to insert a variety of standard and emergency conditions, such as fires or burst tyres, into the simulation exercise. This, combined with the ultra-realistic immersion of the operator into a virtual mining world, results in operators who know what to expect and how to react in real-world emergency scenarios.
The Northparkes centre will be used to train miners and engineers from Rio Tinto mines around the world, developing the technical and operational skills needed to create and operate block cave mines. Among the first trainees will be teams from Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia and Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia, both mines that are already successfully running their own CYBERMINE4 training programmes in conventional mining operations.
About ThoroughTec Simulation:
ThoroughTec has been designing and manufacturing simulators for over 20 years and is the leading simulator system supplier to the South African Military. It is also the largest global supplier of both surface and underground simulators in the mining and construction industries, with well over 500 simulator units deployed worldwide.
Web: www.thoroughtec.com
