Volume 4, Issue 2, 1999
Table of Contents

Mining Related Research at Cambrian College

By Ivan Filion, V.P. Academic, Cambrian College
Darryl Lake, Executive Director, NORCAT

Colleges across the country can testify to their dedication and involvement in applied research. Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario is no exception.

The Beginning

Cambrian has provided research assistance to the mining industry for nearly two decades. Initially, provincial labour legislation helped create the Northeastern Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Resource Centre to provide site inspection services, act as a clearinghouse for emerging safety practices in industrial settings and offer workplace training. In 1986, after a history of fatal rock burst accidents in hard rock mines in Northern Ontario, Cambrian created the Ontario Centre for Ground Control Training to assist mining companies in adopting safer ground support practices by training miners to identify unstable rock masses and install adequate structural support. Both Centres brought Cambrian closer to the training and technical needs of industry and led to the creation of The Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc. (NORCAT) in 1995.

The Present

A non-profit corporation, NORCAT operates from both a college-based complex and an underground facility leased from Falconbridge Limited and located in Onaping Falls. The NORCAT client base spans the breadth of Canada and 30 countries around the world. By providing equipment, facilities and expertise to companies and entrepreneurs in the mining sector, as well as other sectors of the northern economy, NORCAT is integrally involved in the development and testing of new technologies, equipment, prototypes and processes. With the capacity to develop, package and deliver any employee training program that may be required to meet government regulations or industry standards, NORCAT provides specialized training in ground control and support systems, blasting, avoidance of physical hazards and related health and safety awareness. Large mining companies such as Inco, Falconbridge, and Kidd Creek currently use NORCAT for all contractor safety orientation training.

Features of the NORCAT complex include multi-purpose laboratories with flexible bench space, high ceiling garage spaces equipped with specialized weight-bearing structures, rooms equipped with computer-aided design work stations, shops with finely calibrated precision equipment for performing a variety of tasks and office clusters for resident innovators. The residency offices and some of the lab and shop space is leased to companies and individuals on a short-term basis for the development of new technologies and products.

The underground centre at Onaping is an adit mine cut into the base of a hillside, with a ground-level entrance and horizontal configuration which provides easy access to clients for training, product development and testing. It is also an ideal setting to promote and showcase new machinery and heavy equipment.

The Successes

NORCAT has assisted clients with the development of 41 prototypes in a number of areas including electric motor technology, radio remote drive packages for underground equipment, portable boring tools, underground communications and underwater search and retrieval. Twenty-nine prototypes have been commercialized or deployed in some fashion, while two are undergoing pre-commercial testing.

Applied research projects underway at Onaping include testing the feasibility of producing microbial cultures to improve plant hardiness in an underground setting, controlled foam injection as a tunneling technique and development of electric drill technology for hard rock mining. Other longer-term projects may involve the development of modular bio-filtration units for air purification and applications of magnetic levitation and propulsion in underground mining.

Future Challenges

With the support of its private sector partners, Cambrian plans to establish another research unit – the Electronics Systems for Extreme Environments Center (ESEE) – which will focus on hardening electronic devices for mining automation. The ESEE will assist primary industries and other relevant companies with the implementation and application of delicate electronics systems in harsher conditions by: 1) measuring and publishing scientific articles on specific environmental conditions logged over time where electronic circuitry may be intended; 2) diagnosing failed circuitry and suggesting corrective procedures; 3) performing reliability tests of commercial equipment not yet proven in harsh environments; and, 4) evaluating containment systems specifically designed to protect against harsh environments.

The new Centre and NORCAT are, and will be, key examples of what Canadian colleges and institutes can do and achieve in the area of applied research. Encouraged by the growing recognition of the value of college system in this regard, Cambrian College hopes that governments and private sector groups will continue to help develop the full potential of the colleges’ collective research capacity and assist NORCAT in its objective to become a world-class centre for technology development in northern construction and mining technology.