The College of the North Atlantic's Labrador West Campus has purchased two advanced equipment simulators from leading supplier Immersive Technologies to support their mine technical training program.
Widely used in mines around the world, Immersive Technologies' equipment simulators accurately recreate the operator cab environment of surface and underground mining machines.
Students become familiar and competent with the machines controls and mine operating practices without damaging equipment, reducing productivity or risking their safety.
Immersive Technologies' exclusive alliances with the leading OEMs including Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, Liebherr and P&H MinePro, provides Immersive with access to the necessary OEM technical information that is required to accurately develop simulators for their equipment. This information is not available through other public or dealer channels.
As a public college, the College of the North Atlantic prides itself in offering the lowest tuition fees of any post-secondary institution in Atlantic Canada. The college quickly recognised advanced simulation training technology as a method of introducing its mining technician students to the operation of heavy equipment at a mine site.
Dr. Richard Sawyer, campus administrator said, "These haul truck simulators will give our mining technician students an excellent feel for the equipment used in the mines in the area. Students will learn how to operate the equipment safely in optimal, as well as potentially hazardous, conditions."
Largely built on the iron ore industry, much of the Labrador City workforce is involved in mining. The college saw the upgrade of their mining technician program as a key method to better support industry's requirements, in particular the local Iron Ore Company (IOC), Canada's largest iron ore producer and a leading global supplier of iron ore pellets and concentrates.
Immersive Technologies' VP of North America, Cory Cook said, "This application of simulator training by the College of the North Atlantic further demonstrates the growing demand for education institutions to provide cost effective and competitive training solutions that can support the mining industry's need for competent, safe operators who can immediately provide value to the bottom line."
Cook continued, "The global mining industry is readily looking to implement next-generation training methods to support their operational targets. Progressive educational institutions such as the College of the North Atlantic who meet these demands ensure a strong and profitable industry."
The simulators are due to be commissioned in late February 2011.
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