Northern Irish company Dalradian, which has spent £130m over the past decade on works and studies to support its planning application for an environmentally responsible, underground gold-silver-copper mine in west Tyrone, has announced details of its future plans for a three-year, £15m skills development package.

Canada’s Future Skills Centre is to invest C$1.3M in NORCAT, a leader in the development and provision of skilled labour training services for the global mining industry, to develop, test and deploy a series of technology-enabled blended learning programs.

Safety critical industries such as energy and power, medical, transport, defence, construction and first response have many years’ experience in exploiting simulation and wider technologies to support their training and education.

Aluminium producers Alcoa will use virtual reality to prepare staff for high-risk tasks at its alumina refineries in Western Australia.

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance is trialing the use of virtual reality headsets to prepare miners for life underground at its Broadmeadow Mine in Queensland, Australia.

VIA Technologies Inc. has launched the VIA Mobile360 Mining Kit, a complete ruggedized system that reduces injuries and fatalities from vehicle collisions in hazardous mining and quarry environments.