Greg Major.
NORCAT Underground Centre stays on top with training and technology testing
By Cindy Chan
T
he NORCAT Underground Centre continues to move the global mining industry forward with its new surface facility.
Located in Sudbury, Ontario, the NORCAT Underground Centre is an underground operating mine and surface facility, serving as both a mining technology innovation centre and skilled labour training and development facility.
to efficiently meet our client’s expectations – not underground, but with the appropriate amenities in our surface operations,” Major says. “We didn’t really have any bricks and mortar on site. We needed to build a permanent facility, we have a market for it and we have all the right pieces.”
According to Greg Major, director of the centre, NORCAT
Major says the centre has multiple purposes, and a lot is
has operated this property for approximately 25 years,
going on. For example, they offer underground training
but the new Underground Centre surface facility officially
and technology testing. According to the website (norcat.
opened its doors in early 2021. In the beginning, the mine site was primarily used for skilled labour training – which is important – but innovation and underground technology was a complementary and natural next step.
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the past 10 years. Yet, with this growth came challenges
org), NORCAT is the “only non-profit skilled labour training and development organization in the world that has an operating mine, the NORCAT Underground Centre, dedicated to providing integrated, hands-on and practical training programs for both new and existing miners.” The
“The demand for our programs, services and resources
experiential training programs offered at the centre aren’t
at the Underground Centre has grown significantly over
available anywhere else, such as the Underground Hard
