MacLean & Northern Construction Academy form partnership to further battery grader development
MacLean has announced a new testing partnership with Northern Construction Academy (NCA), meaning two well-established Sudbury-based organisations will now be working together to accelerate the introduction of the GR8 EV Surface Grader to the global mining industry. The partnership reflects MacLean’s continued commitment to the Sudbury region, where the company’s research, development, and innovation activities continue to expand.
Under this agreement, MacLean will utilise NCA’s Sudbury-area training property during Summer/Fall 2026 as a dedicated field-testing site for the GR8 EV Surface Grader to validate performance, duty cycles, and operator interaction for this first-of-its-kind battery-electric surface grader.
This collaboration builds on an existing relationship between the two organizations, as MacLean has previously used NCA’s services to provide grader operator training for its employees. This next phase represents a natural evolution by bringing real world testing and expert operator feedback directly into the product development process.
David Jacques, Vice President of Engineering & Surface Mining Vehicles at MacLean, commented: “This initiative reflects MacLean’s ongoing investment in Sudbury as a key centre for its research, testing, and product development activities. The use of a site like NCA’s will be very important to the success of our product testing phase of the GR8 EV Surface Grader. The scale of the property and the variety of terrain conditions are a perfect fit for our needs, and we’ve really enjoyed having Eric’s ongoing involvement in the project. Our team along with the valuable input from people like Eric has developed a fantastic new product, designed and built in Canada, that makes decarbonisation of ancillary equipment like graders much more accessible than previously thought.”
Mining companies who have an interest in seeing the GR8 operate during this testing period are also encouraged to reach out to MacLean.
Eric Morin, Operations Manager at Northern Construction Academy, added: “NCA has always focused on giving operators hands-on experience with equipment in realistic working conditions. Being able to support the development and testing of the GR8 EV Surface Grader is an exciting opportunity for us. This project combines innovation, sustainability, and practical operator input, and we’re proud to work alongside MacLean to help bring a new generation of surface mining equipment to market.”
Eric is a certified expert in the operation and training of a wide range of construction and mining equipment – particularly graders – and has been involved in the GR8 program since its early design stages, providing valuable operator-focused input that continues to shape the product.
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