A virtual prototype is developed for the dynamic simulation of cable shovel front-end stress in a co-simulation environment. The general mechanical system of the cable shovel is modeled as a multi-body system with rigid and flexible bodies based on the Lagrangian multibody dynamics and finite element method. The prototype is built in the Automatic Dynamic Analysis Mechanical System (ADAMS) environment, and the corresponding motors and control systems are modeled by Simulink. The model allows visualizing the motion of general mechanical system and analyzing the dynamic stress of structural components of the cable shovel. An example is given to verify the model with performing dynamic stress durability analysis for the boom and handle. Attention of this study is devoted to the mechanisms damage of the cable shovel and also the critical high stress areas.