Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/325596
92 E&MJ; • JUNE 2014 www.e-mj.com Three Steps to Improving Mine Performance Combining elements from performance improvement programs while focusing on the people side of the equation proves successful for some underground operations By Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief Many underground miners view their operations as rock factories. Their task, in its simplest form, is to supply the mill with more rock than it can process. Until the mine consistently supplies rock at the level required for the plant to run at full capacity, the mine will be viewed as the weak link in the production chain. Underground mining processes can be complex, especially when one consid- ers the relationship between develop- ment and production. Add to that other variables such as shaft scheduling, deliv- ery of materials, drilling and blasting schedules, mucking, the movement of men and machinery, etc., and the inter- dependency of related tasks further com- plicates the situation. If it were a rock factory, would it be safe to assume that management could also apply the same practices that have improved performance on modern manu- facturing plants? No doubt, the mining industry is set in its ways and has been slow to adopt principles, such as contin- uous improvement. Underground mining is inherently dangerous and mining equipment occasionally faces extremes, which makes the job more of a craft than a process. Some mining companies have also had negative experiences with continuous improvement programs. Some embarked on overreaching plans that ultimately fell short as they lost sight of the goal and failed to keep the miners engaged. Rather than looking for a silver bullet, perhaps mine planners should get back to basics; plan multiple smaller improvement projects, engage the miners, set achiev- able goals, measure the results, and praise the accomplishments. Bruce Wesner, man- aging principal, Life Cycle Engineering (LCE), believes in a focused improvement effort—one that defines a value stream to identify and overcome obstacles that cre- ate performance problems. LCE bills itself as a firm that provides engineering solutions that deliver lasting results by enabling people and organiza- PERFORMANCE OPITMIZATION EMJ_pg92-101_EMJ_pg92-101 6/3/14 3:17 PM Page 92