Peruvian mine undergoes workforce development

Recruiting local workforce has been a priority for Quellaveco’s project and this will continue during the mining operation. Anglo American works with local and educational authorities to train and develop new personnel. The mine site will take delivery of a fleet of Caterpillar Autonomous trucks, which will be loaded by Caterpillar electric and hydraulic shovels equipped with Cat®, MineStar™ and Command for Hauling systems.

To train and develop a local workforce for a greenfield operation, the company has invested in simulators and learning systems from Immersive Technologies. The new mine will potentially be running autonomous truck operations once operators are proficient in how to interact with the autonomous haulage environment.

With increased role complexity, using an efficient training approach is important in preparing many personnel in a short period of time, while measuring, assessing and optimizing skills to determine permit-to-work. Additionally, in-field training time must be minimised to help avoid impact on production.

Andres Zuñiga, Talent and Development Superintendent at Anglo American, said: “Anglo American have appealed to Immersive Technologies’ experience in the mining simulation field to close the gap between manned vs autonomous operations while training local operators with the latest available technology.”

Investing in Immersive Technologies’ training solutions could speed up the training to provide sufficient operators for the mining operations (both manned and autonomous operations) and at the same time reduce the risk in achieving the required ramp-up to full commercial operations.

The transitional period to bring the fleet of autonomous trucks into operation will require specific sets of skills and new roles. Human error has an impact on autonomous haulage system productivity. The systems being supplied have been demonstrated to enable personnel in in-field roles, to build the required skills and to help decrease human error in the use of autonomous haulage systems.

Bryce Mancell, Technology and Systems Eng. Superintendent of Mining and Technology at Anglo American, said: “Operators will be involved in every stage of the transition; Immersive Technologies simulators would support this process by providing multiple simulation training solutions to generate multi-functional operators in a safe and controlled environment while being efficient.”

Immersive Technologies has pledged to support Anglo American Quellaveco at every step of the process while utilising blended learning systems, simulation and human performance analytics to address the implementation risks related to Quellaveco’s project.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/20122019/peruvian-mine-undergoes-workforce-development/