Murray & Roberts Cementation recently invited final year mining engineering students from the University of Pretoria, in South Africa, to try out a simulated learning environment at its Training Academy.

The company’s facility at Bentley Park, near Carletonville, Gauteng, offers a blend of e-learning and experiential learning in simulation conditions, the company said. The facility includes mock-ups of mine development areas and shafts, as well as a virtual reality blast wall which the students were able to experience.

Executives from Murray & Roberts Cementation also often lecture at local tertiary institutions and universities, adding to the students’ knowledge base.

Tony Pretorius, Education, Training and Development Executive at Murray & Roberts Cementation, said: “The Tuks students were able to appreciate our targeted and holistic approach, in which we apply simulators in a blended learning experience. This improves the way we transfer knowledge and build capacity among South African companies, to strengthen and build the local mining sector.”

Learners at Bentley Park complete structured e-learning modules, followed by visual training and pre-simulation training. They then undergo simulation training, followed by in-workplace learning using an actual machine under the direct supervision of a competent person, Murray & Roberts Cementation said.

“This is how we apply the situational leadership development model of ‘Tell, Sell, Participate and Delegate’,” Pretorius said.