The college will be receiving six CYBERMINE simulators to facilitate the training of both surface and underground heavy equipment operators.

“The CCNB is a francophone, modern, globally focused college, centered on its student population that provides high quality educational services and training programmes to meet the needs of an emerging economy. CCNB values the importance of developing a skilled, well-trained workforce to meet the demands of the labour market including customised training programmes in French and English, tailored to meet the specific needs of industry,” says Liane Roy, CEO. “On our five campuses, the CCNB contributes to the development of the New Brunswick communities with more than 85 regular programmes in technical and professional training. As an entrepreneurial and innovative college, the CCNB adapts to the rapidly changing economy, supports applied research activities and encourages innovation,” adds Roy.

The centre, which will be located at CCNB’s Bathurst Campus, will service the rapidly expanding mining industry in the region. “The facility will offer training in different aspects of the industry, including equipment operator training,” says Alain Gauvin, Head of Development at CCNB’s Bathurst Campus. “We currently have another programme where we use simulators as part of training and we are convinced that it’s a must in training students coming through the mining programme.” Gauvin goes on to say that CCNB is also interested in conducting on-site training with the CYBERMINE simulators in addition to the training offered at Bathurst. Simulator training will be offered in both French and English and so the CYBERMINE system was designed from the outset to support training in both French and English.

“We love working with training institutions and are delighted to be adding CCNB to our family of CYBERMINE clients in North America,” says Adam Smallman, VP of sales for the region at ThoroughTec. “This project stands as testimony to the strength of our simulator portfolio, really highlighting our ability to deliver a large number of simulators, across a wide range of equipment classes, in an incredibly short timeframe. We are proud to lead the market in this respect and work hard to maintain that position.” Over the last two decades ThoroughTec has developed the widest range of surface and underground heavy equipment training simulators in the industry.

The simulator cabs that CCNB will be receiving shall cater for the training of trainee operators of Komatsu 930E haul trucks and PC5500 shovels; Caterpillar 992G wheel loaders, DT10 dozers, R2900G LHDs and AD55 ADTs.

“We see these simulators and the Mine Training Centre playing an important role in New Brunswick’s mining industry,” says Gauvin. He estimates that around 50 students will go through the programme in the first year. 

“We’re confident that these military-grade simulators will provide years and years of reliable service and assist in the training of safe and productive operators in the region,” concludes Smallman.