TRAINING & EDUCATION
WA IS HOME TO AROUND 90 PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S CAT AUTONOMOUS HAULAGE FLEET.
PREPARING THE WORKFORCE FOR AN AUTONOMOUS FUTURE A COLLABORATION BETWEEN WESTRAC AND RIO TINTO HAS LED TO THE CREATION OF A TAILORED PROGRAM TO TEACH TEAM MEMBERS THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OPERATING WITHIN AN AUTONOMOUS MINE SITE. MICHAEL PHILIPPS WRITES.
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io Tinto is quickly approaching first production at its Gudai-Darri iron ore mine near Newman in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The company has plans for GudaiDarri to be one of the world’s most advanced mine sites with automation technology solutions across the value chain. However, for the site to work efficiently and safely, all workers employed at the mine must be trained to work with autonomous technology. Rio Tinto and WesTrac have developed a tailored program to teach team members the safety fundamentals of operating within an autonomous mine site. The Automated Haulage Systems (AHS) module at the WesTrac Technology Training Centre in Collie has prepared more than 260 operators since its launch, with another 100 people expected to be trained by December.
The centre is only the second such training facility in the world focussing on the technical skills required to operate autonomous equipment for use in the resources sector. WesTrac chief executive officer Jarvas Croome says Western Australia currently accounts for around 90 per cent of the world’s Cat autonomous haulage fleet and that is why the training centre was established in the state. “Because not all sites have autonomy on them, this particular training facility is all about that initial introduction to autonomy,” Croome says. “They may have worked on a mine site for five or 10 years but now they are going to be working with autonomous equipment. So we can get them up to speed for their first day on site. “Traditionally we have done a lot of the training on site, so this is a perfect opportunity to train people before they get to the site, and we can also train a greater volume of operators.” WesTrac is also delivering a maintainer training module, focussed AUSTRALIANMINING
on in-field service operations for autonomous equipment. Rio Tinto expects to send employees to the facility on an ongoing basis over coming years to train both new team members and those wishing to upskill. Rio Tinto vice president of human resources Scott Browne says the program has given the company’s team members invaluable development in AHS. “The (Gudai-Darri) site will be autonomous in regard to our haulage fleet, so we are really focussed on our haul trucks,” Browne says. “We recently announced with Caterpillar the first autonomous water cart and we have also got our autonomous drill system. “There are other digital technologies around the mine in regards to refuelling and other warehouse parts, but the big focus is really on the autonomous haulage fleet. “The aim is about how we can create the safest environment, and obviously a highly productive environment, and see where autonomy fits within that.”
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According to WesTrac’s Technology Training Centre operations manager Jeremy Manuel, Gudai-Darri will be a unique working environment which presents some training challenges for Rio Tinto. “Before engaging with the GudaiDarri team, WesTrac had been working with customers to roll out autonomous haulage equipment at mines that were already operating, so it was possible to phase the introduction of the new technology and to train workforces on site in line with that rollout,” Manuel says. “As Gudai-Darri is a new site, WesTrac worked with Rio Tinto to develop appropriate courses and deliver them at our purpose-built Collie facility, ensuring team members leave the program site-ready.” The training includes practical components for operating and using manually controlled equipment such as passenger transport vehicles within autonomous zones. Such equipment must be fitted with technology to allow safe interaction with the autonomous
