Swedish engineering company Sandvik's fleet of battery-electric mining vehicles. The founder of a Midland, Ont., company that helps mining companies transition their fleets from diesel to electric vehicles says workers need more and better training.
"So it's pretty difficult for anyone to generate training or any awareness initiatives around those gaps with the absence of information," said Lyon. "Canada is an early adopter and the Canadian mines sort of have the first view at this and can actually lead, build training programs, build workshops, build different devices, white papers around those gaps and in planning for a fleet and get that out around the world and to new miners even in Canada."
Lyon advocates for training that is unbiased, that is, not geared to any particular company's product, but provides case studies and information, both good and bad, from a third party. "A lot of it is being developed in house because these pieces of equipment are brand new and the manufacturers are of course providing some documentation with it," he said. "A lot of these things have yet to go through real-world testing."
"The manufacturers are going to have their opinion, the end users are going to have their opinion of the equipment too, the purchasers are going to have their opinion, the people doing the maintenance are going to have their opinion, and you want to put those all together so you have a well-rounded document, or set of rules or procedures."Training offered in northeastern Ontario includes an industrial BEV maintenance certificate at Cambrian College in Sudbury.