CYBERMINE 4 Surface Base Unit
Employees of Anglo American’s Mogalakwena platinum mine in Limpopo Province, as well as the surrounding community, are reaping the benefits of the mine’s high-fidelity, simulator-training programme.
The mine has recently purchased another CYBERMINE Full Mission Simulator (FMS) from ThoroughTec Simulation, this time for the training of Caterpillar D10T dozer operators. This simulator compliments their existing system for the training of Taiyuan Heavy Industries, WK55 rope shovel operators, which was the first of its kind in the world.
CYBERMINE THI WK55 rope shovel simulator
The forward-thinking Mogalakwena mine is using performance and usage data, collected directly from its operational equipment, to boost productivity and drive down costs. Their CYBERMINE simulators form an integral part of this methodology of continuous improvement, providing optimised training, monitoring skills retention and correcting negative behaviours.
“The CYBERMINE simulators provide us with an environment which is as close to the real thing as possible. It allows for a lot of practice, and mistakes to be made in a safe environment at zero risk,” says Richard White, HRD Coordinator QA & Learning Delivery at Mogalakwena. The mining of platinum is heavily mechanised and the costly equipment used can be dangerous. By the time the learner operators graduate from the simulator, they are already comfortable with the equipment’s controls and what they could expect in the mining area. “This minimises the risks when taking the trainee operator to the pit for the first time,” adds White. Cost of ownership is also improved because more training is being done on the simulator, instead of the actual equipment.
“After evaluating the dozer simulator for a period of time and having proven its utility and benefit to training, the mine decided to purchase it outright,” says Adam Smallman, Regional Vice President for EMEA at ThoroughTec. The simulator is not just providing safety benefits; “There are also productivity upsides,” says White. “We’ve found that now, after simulator training, a lot more ripping gets done by the dozer operators.” The simulator’s 360-degree field of view and ripping capabilities provide a life-like situation for operators to practice not only dozing, but ripping as well.
Stephan Voges, HRD Trainer at Mogalakwena, instructs a rope shovel operator on the advanced CYBERMINE simulator
This particular simulator is also being used in a community development project known as Dozing to Success. “The dozer is our entry level equipment for up and coming operators, therefore the D10T sim will be our primary tool in teaching community members who have no mining experience whatsoever, about the mining environment in a safe, realistic manner,” says Stephan Voges, HRD Trainer. “It’s broadening the skills base in the area.”
Currently the simulators are used for initial training programmes to get new operators familiar with their respective machines. “We will be implementing simulator training into refresher training in the near future to ensure that standards and compliance remains at the required level,” says Voges. “This training takes place on a daily basis so this will see the number of operators using the simulators increase dramatically. We intend to utilise these simulators as much as possible.”
Mogalakwena’s THI WK55 rope shovel operators are trained on CYBERMINE simulators for this model, the first of its kind in the world
About ThoroughTec Simulation:
The team at ThoroughTec Simulation has been designing simulator based training systems for over twenty-five years. During this time the company has grown into one of the world’s leading training simulation organisations, supplying the mining, construction and military sectors.
Providing Operator Training Systems and Tactical Training Systems for a range of vehicles and applications, ThoroughTec is the de facto supplier of simulator systems to the South African Military as well as supplying a number of European militaries. This military engineering has been utilised in the development of CYBERMINE mining equipment simulator systems, elevating them above competitors through military grade quality, reliability and low cost of ownership.
ThoroughTec’s range of CYBERMINE mining simulators is the broadest in the industry, encompassing all aspects of both surface and underground mining operations for hard and soft rock and capable of replicating a mine’s entire working fleet from load and haul through to the most complex production and ancillary equipment. CYBERMINE mining simulator systems are designed and engineered to make mines safer, more productive and more cost effective.
ThoroughTec’s R&D efforts have been focussed in recent years in providing complete heavy equipment workforce optimisation solutions. They have added Operator Familiarisation Trainers and E-Learning to their CYBERMINE product range, complementing the CYBERMINE Full Mission Simulators and answering the call from the mining industry for optimised heavy equipment workforces who reduce costs per tonne and improve overall mine safety.
ThoroughTec’s headquarters and R&D and production facility are in Durban, South Africa, with global sales and support subsidiary offices in Perth, Australia; Santiago, Chile; Toronto, Canada; Salt Lake City, USA and Moscow, Russia.