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SUDBURY, Ont. \u2014 Mickey O\u2019Brien enjoys the daily grind of taking a deep dive to the centre of the earth.<\/p>\n
A proud third-generation miner, O\u2019Brien works 10-hour shifts at Vale\u2019s Copper Cliff Mine in Sudbury, Ont. After suiting up and assembling, he and his co-workers break into several crews to begin the hot and dirty task of gnawing away at the earth more than 1.5 kilometres underground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on haulage,\u201d O\u2019Brien says. \u201cRight now I\u2019m driving a grader, but I\u2019m being trained on a picker, so if we have big chunks after a blast, the scoop will put them aside and I drill holes in them and I blow them up, and the scoop will come and pick them up. Cool, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien is a labour rights activist and considers many of his colleagues \u2014 most of whom are members of Steelworkers Local 6500 \u2014 to be brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working on Inco property since I was 18 and I\u2019m 38 now,\u201d he says, referencing the name of his company before it was bought out by Vale in 2006.<\/p>\n
The area of underground excavation is expansive. O\u2019Brien says there is a veritable city connecting the former north and south mines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to know exactly how many kilometres of drift are driven underneath Copper Cliff,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
While Vale employs about 4,000 people throughout its Ontario operations, more than 13,000 Sudburians work in the mining supply sector; and across Canada, more than 210,000 people work in mining.<\/p>\n
The mines in Sudbury are getting increasingly deep. Earlier this year, another company named Glencore announced it was spending nearly $1 billion to mine new ore 2.5 kilometres underground. Vale is also expanding operations at its Copper Cliff Mine with the new multi-million dollar Copper Cliff Deep project.<\/p>\n
As mines get deeper, Steve Matusch, president of Sudbury-based Ionic Engineering, says they become more expensive and risky for employees. But automation can make them accessible.<\/p>\n
The team at Ionic is working on a number of mining projects aimed at enhancing worker safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the technology that was not really ready for mining 30 years ago has now become such and so those are the things we\u2019re starting to see \u2014 a lot of robotics and vision systems; we\u2019re starting to get into artificial intelligence,\u201d Matusch says.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of those things are introducing themselves into mining and it is driven by two factors: cost pressures \u2014 the ore is getting deeper and more costly to extract; and from a safety perspective, mining is as close on earth as you can come to operating in outer space.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re operating 2.5 miles underground in an environment where you\u2019re totally supported by technology. Without technology, you cannot live in that environment because you need ventilation, lighting, power \u2014 all those things that keep people alive. That\u2019s really a foreign situation for people to be in. The drive in the mining industry is to get people out of that situation. That\u2019s going to happen in steps over 30 or 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evolution will allow mining companies to move employees away from situations that can turn dangerous or deadly, and has enabled operations to send fewer people underground, a trend Matusch says will be relentless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout going down this road, you\u2019re facing the choice between some people in the industry or none,\u201d Matusch says. \u201cWithout these processes, those deep, deep mines will never be mined. It will be sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n
While historically, mining has been a one-person, one-machine operation, automation is changing the equation and will actually enable employees to work remotely, whether it is around the corner at a cozy caf\u00e9 or halfway across the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraditionally, you would have an operator on the scoop, mucking out the round,\u201d says Don Duval, CEO at NORCAT, a non-profit group that provides health and safety training. \u201cNow, you can actually retrofit the scoop to remove the seat and put on the right infrastructure to enable that scoop to be operated on surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
NORCAT runs the only mining research and development centre in the world that operates an underground test facility. As Duval explains, future miners will not only need to be good with their hands, but also need to understand how to use a computer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are different skills than they would have had to have five years ago if they were physically sitting on the vehicle in an underground mining environment,\u201d Duval says excitedly. \u201cThat\u2019s the intersection between the future of work and learning, and technology adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matusch agrees, although he foresees it happening incrementally. As older people retire, they will be replaced by new employees with new skill sets \u2014 including experience with electronics, smart technologies, as well as the care and maintenance of equipment.<\/p>\n
Most of the mining workforce is still older than 45 years of age, although the balance is beginning to shift. In 2016, workers aged 45-65 represented 45 per cent of the workforce, a drop from 48 per cent a decade prior. Individuals aged 15-34 years represented 30 per cent of the workforce in 2016, up from 27 per cent 10 years previously.<\/p>\n
Matusch says there is a growing demand for employees who work with their hands and minds \u2014 electricians, mechanics and trades people, as well as computer programmers and planners. Unskilled positions are slowly disappearing. Since 2006, the sector has increasingly attracted more STEM workers. In 2016, they represented 18.4 per cent of the workforce, up from 17 per cent in 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a strong technical skill set and you want to work in the mining industry, there\u2019s probably a place for you,\u201d Matusch says.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact automation in mining is considered novel and innovative, O\u2019Brien says the technology dates from at least the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien says these \u201cmassive corporations\u201d employ \u201cbean counters\u201d to ensure maximum efficiency; and he points out that at the pinnacle of Inco\u2019s operations in Sudbury, the company employed about 30,000 people. Now Vale has a much smaller staff of fewer than 4,000 hourly workers.<\/p>\n
During most of his shifts, O\u2019Brien says there are fewer than 80 people going underground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s automation and bulk mining; it\u2019s not a new thing,\u201d he says. \u201cOne of the greatest things about it is that most of the innovations in mining have come from Sudbury. We have to be proud of our culture and where we\u2019re from.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there are fewer people working in the mines, then there are even fewer women who work alongside O\u2019Brien at the Copper Cliff Mine. Currently, women comprise only about 16 per cent, or 33,880 individuals, of the mining workforce in Canada.<\/p>\n
While there may be fewer jobs overall, Matusch predicts that automation will make the mining sector increasingly female-friendly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about it, it\u2019s going to be a more diverse workforce,\u201d he says. \u201cThose skill sets that have been associated as traditionally male are going to be the ones that are declining within the mines. The environments are going to be involving a group of people who are very highly skilled, from a diverse set of backgrounds, and that just inherently means more diversity \u2014 women, as well as other groups too. It\u2019s going to be a more inclusive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
NORCAT\u2019s Duval says he has had his eye on automation for a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just about buying and installing new technologies to achieve desired outcomes, it\u2019s now about making sure we understand the human capital element and the training element to ensure the workers who are operating these pieces of technology know how to do it with confidence and competence,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Buried deep in the Canadian Shield, about an hour north of Sudbury, Duval says they are testing new technologies, including electric vehicles \u2014 an emissions-free underground environment could become a reality \u2014 and tele-remote autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n
One of the most interesting things to emerge from NORCAT in the past couple of years is the Ferdeno simulation mine. Launched in 2016, Ferdeno is a training tool that incorporates elements of video games, such as avatars, with the knowledge of decades of underground experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a virtual underground mine, which can be used for a variety of training and development outcomes,\u201d says Duval.<\/p>\n
It was initially used to simulate underground mine rescue and has since been used to allow companies to show off their new technologies to prospective customers.<\/p>\n
It is also used to recruit a new generation of miners who may not have access to underground facilities. This virtual experience may sway younger people who are still choosing a career path.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can put these scenarios in and pieces of equipment in, so a would-be, prospective miner \u2014 maybe five years in advance, while they\u2019re still in high school \u2014 can really experience Ferdeno, either on a flat screen or with immersive engaged technologies, like augmented reality and virtual reality,\u201d Duval notes.<\/p>\n
Ferdeno is just one example of how employers and the industry are responding to new needs and demands from the workforce. As Duval explains, the future of work and learning in the mining industry is \u201cdramatically transforming.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make sure they get high-quality recruits, NORCAT tailors learning opportunities to the student. While Duval says there are some components that must be taught the way they have been for decades, nowadays, there are more personalized options available to students, including e-learning and simulation tools, as well as avatar-based learning.<\/p>\n
Historically, most training took place in a hands-on, experiential environment with real, live trainers. It was often learn as you go. The point with the new techniques, Duval says, is to ensure students learn what they need to know to work safely and productively.<\/p>\n
At Vale\u2019s Totten Mine in Worthington, about 40 kilometres west of Sudbury, the company has installed a WiFi network underground that includes radio frequency ID tags for all employees. During emergencies, minutes matter and those ID tags save lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a typical fire underground, if you go to any other plants to clear the mine, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour,\u201d says Derek Kulyski, Totten\u2019s mine manager. \u201cAt Totten, we go to the control centre and call up the screen and within five minutes I can tell you who\u2019s in the refuge station and who\u2019s not, and where their last location is. It\u2019s a huge safety piece.\u201d<\/p>\n
Totten opened its doors in 2014. In addition to creating a safer environment for its workers, the mine has reduced costs and increased efficiency. Vale hopes it will become an example for other mines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking to transform the way we do business, not only at Totten but across our other operations,\u201d said Angie Robson, a Vale spokeswoman. \u201cOur chief operating officer has put it best when he said \u2018I imagine a much safer business, where we design our work better, solve problems faster and execute with precision \u2014 using technology and data to help us.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Robson said work is underway to plan for the adaptation and adoption of technology at other mine sites. She said planning for future projects will include things like an underground WiFi system, as well as autonomous and battery-powered electric vehicles.<\/p>\n