Tag Archives: NORCAT

NORCAT readies Underground Centre for expansion

4th March 2019Careers in mining, Equipment maintenance, Explosives and blasting, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable miningCanada, Don Duval, mine simulators, mining career, NORCAT, Sudbury, training, Underground CentreDaniel Gleeson

NORCAT has announced plans for the growth and expansion of its Underground Centre.

The planned expansion will enable NORCAT to respond to the forecasted demand of the global innovation ecosystem and demonstrates NORCAT’s commitment to continuing its position as the world’s ‘one-stop shop’ for all that is the future of mining technology and innovation, the company said.

NORCAT owns and operates an underground mine (the Underground Centre) in Sudbury, Canada, focused on the development, testing, and demonstration of innovative technologies in an operating mine environment.

Don Duval, NORCAT CEO, said: “Over the last three years, we have seen significant growth in NORCAT’s portfolio of mining technology companies using our state-of-the-art operating mine as an ‘active laboratory’, creating an ecosystem like no other in the world. By expanding the NORCAT Underground Centre, we continue our proud role anchoring one of the world’s leading mining technology and innovation clusters, while concurrently supporting the commercialisation and adoption of leading-edge technologies that will make the global mining industry safer, more efficient, and more productive.”

To coincide with investments into the NORCAT Underground Centre, NORCAT has also developed an array of training, technology, and innovative service offerings to meet the growing and diverse skilled labour training and development needs of global mining and mining technology companies focused on competitiveness, shareholder and stakeholder value, productivity and health and safety, the company said.

Jason Bubba, NORCAT’s Director of Training and Development, said: “The global mining industry has continued to build momentum and prepare for a remarkable transformation, and the continued investment in and deployment of new technologies are redefining what it means to have a career in mining.

“By continuing to develop state of the art technologies for a ‘new world of training’ for a ‘new world of work’, NORCAT remains at the forefront of innovation as a market leader in skilled labour training and development for the global mining industry.”

NORCAT is debuting new learning technologies at the NORCAT experiential booth in the Northern Ontario Pavilion at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada annual event, currently taking place in Toronto, Canada. The live demonstration will include the latest in mine skills training including augmented reality, virtual reality, interactive multiplayer avatar-based training, incident re-creation and digital safety systems, according to the company.

NORCAT and Glencore launch technology innovation programme

17th January 2019Automation, Base metals, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mine operation news, Mine shafts and equipment, Mine surveying, Mine ventilation, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, Power supply for mines, Sustainable miningDon Duval, Glencore, Kevin McAuley, mining equipment, mining technology, nickel, NORCAT, Sudbury, The Electric MineDaniel Gleeson

NORCAT and Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations have launched a technology and innovation programme to facilitate and enhance the mining company’s capabilities to bring new, state-of-the-art technologies into its operations and accelerate the rate of technology adoption across the industry, NORCAT has reported.

NORCAT, which calls itself a global leader in the development and provision of skilled labour training and innovation services, is the only innovation centre in the world that owns and operates an underground mine designed to “enable start-ups, small/medium enterprises, and international companies to develop, test, and demonstrate innovative technologies in an operating mine environment”, it says.

This facility has seen NORCAT become a global destination for mining companies to “see and touch” emerging technologies poised to transform the industry, it said.

Kevin McAuley, Director Sustainability, Technical Services and Innovation at Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations, said: “We are excited to partner with NORCAT to implement this technology and innovation programme. This partnership not only provides us a unique opportunity to access a wide range of emerging technologies that will help us deliver on our broader business strategy, but also it continues to support the vibrant mining technology ecosystem at the NORCAT Underground Centre.”

Don Duval, NORCAT’s CEO, said the company was working hard to continue its leading role in “all that is the future of mining”.

“NORCAT’s portfolio of mining technology companies using our state-of-the-art operating mine as an ‘active laboratory’ has created an ecosystem like no other in the world,” he added. “We are excited to partner with Glencore and continue to build and support Canada’s global reputation as a market leader in the mining industry.”

NORCAT says it will continue to identify and engage with mining technology companies from around the world to support the implementation and demonstration of their products at the Underground Centre. “By doing so, NORCAT helps to connect and broker relationships between mining technology companies (the ‘builders of innovation’) and global mining companies (the ‘buyers’ of innovation), creating a vibrant tech ecosystem unique on the global stage.”

NORCAT’s Don Duval will be presenting a paper titled, The NORCAT Underground Centre – the world’s one-stop shop for the future of mining technology, at The Electric Mine conference in Toronto, on April 4-5, 2019. For more information on the event, please click here.

The Electric Mine conference shifts gear

19th December 2018Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining project news, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Precious metalsABB Canada, Adria Manufacture, battery-electric; mining equipment, Caterpillar, CEMI, Energetique Mining Vehicles, GE Transportation, Global Mining Guidelines Group, Goldcorp, Kirkland Lake Gold, MacLean Engineering, MEDATECH, Miller Technology, mine electrification, Mining OEM, Mining3, NORCAT, Nouveau Monde Graphite, Sandvik, Schneider Electric, Siemens, The Electric Mine conference, University of British Columbia, Vale, Volvo Construction EquipmentDaniel Gleeson

With just under four months to go, The Electric Mine conference is charging up to full capacity.

IM has been able to assemble a world-class speaker line-up covering the entire mine electrification process – from R&D and power infrastructure, to battery charging and electrified equipment.

The conference, to take place on April 4-5, 2019, in Toronto, Canada, will host the great and the good in this fast-evolving sector and hear case studies from real mine trials or applications.

This includes a presentation from Kirkland Lake Gold, which is currently running one of the largest in-production underground battery-electric fleets in the industry at its Macassa gold mine in Canada.

Just last month, IM heard that some 33 units were active underground at the deep and high-grade mine in Ontario and Andrew Schinkel, Senior Electrical Engineer of the Macassa Mine Complex, will most likely be able to add to that number, as well as comment on the fleet’s productivity, come conference time.

The soon-to-be-in-production Borden gold project, also in Ontario, will be under the spotlight at the event, with the involved OEMs and mining company collaborating on stage as they have during mine development.

Maarten van Koppen (pictured, left), Senior Project Engineer at Goldcorp Porcupine Mines, Jeff Anderson, Senior Mechanical Designer, MacLean Engineering, and a Sandvik Mining co-speaker (to be confirmed), will present: ‘The Borden Gold Project – lessons learned from the ‘mine of the future’ and the crucial role of partnerships in building an all-electric underground mine’.

The major mining representation does not end there.

Samantha Espley, Director of the Technology & Innovation Centre for Mining and Mineral Processing, Vale Base Metals Operations, will chart the mining company’s roadmap to underground electrification in Sudbury during her talk; expect the OEMs in the room to ask questions about the future fleet for the Creighton deep zone!

Caterpillar’s Product Manager for Underground Technology Solutions, Jay Armburger, is also set to take to the stage at the Radisson Admiral. The focus of his talk will be on heat generation, comparing battery and diesel LHDs underground. A few passing references to the proof of concept R1300G LHD trials it ran not all that long ago at an underground mine in Sudbury, Canada (pictured, right), are likely.

We’ll also hear about developments above ground.

A joint presentation from Karl Trudeau (Nouveau Monde Graphite), Michel Serres (ABB Canada) and David Lyon (MEDATECH) will shed some light on what it will take to create an all-electric open-pit mine able to produce 100,000 t of graphite concentrate at NMG’s Matawinie project in Quebec, Canada.

Those three speakers could be in the front row for Per-Erik Lindström’s talk on The Electric Site project in Sweden.

Lindström, Vice President Global Key Account Management for Volvo Construction Equipment, has seen first hand how battery-electric equipment can move the needle in terms of cost and emissions at the Skanska Vikan Cross quarry, just outside of Gothenburg, and there are more than a few miners interested in the prototype machines (pictured, left) the OEM has manufactured for this purpose.

These presentations will be complemented by a talk from Heather Ednie, Managing Director, Global Mining Guidelines Group, on the second edition of the group’s Battery Electric Vehicle guideline; an opening keynote from Ali G. Madiseh, Canada Research Chair in Advanced Mine Energy Systems, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, titled: ‘The Electric Mine: a new norm in mine energy systems’; Erik Isokangas, Program Director, Mining3, discussing the value proposition for autonomous electric haulage; and Doug Morrison, President and CEO, Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), looking at electrification to maximise productive capacity.

Meanwhile, Justin Bain, Chief Executive Officer, Energetique (Energy/Mobility), will fly in from Australia to pronounce the death of diesel Down Under – his firm has recently been involved in the conversion of diesel utility vehicles to battery-electric drive.

Along similar lines, Paul Miller, of Miller Technology, will talk about what goes into developing an innovative fully-electric light utility automobile, designed for continuous underground operation.

IM then has two behemoths in the mine power sector, Siemens and Schneider Electric, looking at the all-important infrastructure that goes into electrification.

Dr Bappa Banerjee, General Manager, Mining Equipment, GE Transportation, will look at the electric future for load and haul in his keynote, Mathieu Bouffard, Project Manager, Adria Manufacture, will cover battery charging and power management of battery-electric vehicles, and Don Duval, CEO of NORCAT, will showcase some of the new technologies that have come out of the organisation’s Underground Centre in Sudbury.

This speaker line-up is only set to improve as we move into the New Year, with IM in advanced discussions with more OEMs and miners looking to present.

The first global event on mine electrification continues to charge ahead…

If you’d like to hear more about The Electric Mine conference – including presenting and sponsorship opportunities – please feel free to get in contact with Editorial Director Paul Moore ([email protected]) or Editor Dan Gleeson ([email protected]).

To view the full speaker line-up, venue details and to take advantage of the soon-to-expire Early Bird attendance rate, please visit the event homepage here.