EVERY mine wants to realize productivity improvements by simply “making work with what they already have” and not purchasing additional machines or more technology. With the right systems and mindset, we at Liberty Mining Consultants have found this is achievable.
In addition to the United States, our people have worked in Australia, China, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom, assisting underground coal mines with improving productivity on both continuous miner equipment units and longwall systems.
Over the past 20 years or so, continuous miner equipment systems have made their way into just about every coal producing country. We first saw the equipment introduced on a large scale in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Today, there are continuous miners operating literally everywhere, and with various levels of success – even in the same country.
We have found that where continuous miner units are not achieving the desired productivity levels, the typical explanations are not always the true reasons, or the whole story.
Yes, we have been told that continuous miners do not work in their county, their mining conditions are not like those in the United States, their labor union issues will not allow them to operate as we do in the United States, the equipment manufacturer sold them machines with the wrong specifications for their conditions, and on, and on, and on.
Even the reasons for the substandard productivity will be different within the same company – those at the head office, those of mine management, those of the maintenance department, those of the section supervisors, and those of the equipment operators themselves.
As a result, Liberty Mining Consultants insists the first phase of our international productivity improvement projects is a thorough review of the operations. Basically, before you can fix anything you must first understand what is broken. Yes, we do find that sometimes the machines are not ideal for the conditions, and that some equipment is old and in need of replacing; however, often these issues are not the only reasons for substandard productivity.
We have found that the outby support functions at the mines are often inadequate to allow for maximum productivity. Any mine implementing continuous miner equipment units must address the supply and personnel transport systems and the conveyor belts.
Too often mines omit these necessary upgrades, and thus are unable to significantly increase productivity. Another typical example is that mines purchased only some of the section equipment, for example a continuous miner, a roof bolter and two shuttle cars, and not a scoop nor a feeder-breaker. The elimination of these essential machines also reduces the productivity potential from the unit, in any country. Mines cannot expect to, and will not, achieve the productivity potential without implementing the entire system.
What we generally find during our initial review of the operations is that when a mine implemented the new continuous miner equipment units, or attempted to increase productivity from existing units, management further complicated matters rather than simplify them. They usually added staff personnel, introduced more elaborate tracking systems, created additional reports, and scheduled additional meetings to discuss what happened yesterday. What should have happened was the exact opposite.
Management should realize that the most important people on the property are the ones with the remote controls for the continuous miners in their hands, and that they are the only ones making money for the company. Everyone else on the property must understand that their job is to maximize the coal cutting time of the continuous miner operators. Any other activities are only distractions, and take away from management’s ability to focus on maximizing productivity.
This starts with management, both production and maintenance, by reducing the number and length of meetings on the surface, going underground and onto the continuous miner units – “That’s where the band is playing.”
Only then can management learn first-hand the causes of production delays, and subsequently take steps to reduce or eliminate those delays.
It is no coincidence that when foreign guests visit American coal mines, they do not find many people outside, but rather underground. We have found the most productive coal mines in the world have a management that pays close attention to details, is quick to make decisions, and most importantly keeps things simple. As an example, section foreman reports are a clear and concise summary of not only the coal production activities on their shift, but also notes about equipment problems, needed supplies, effective use of non-coal production time, and preparations for belt and power extensions.
The most productive coal mines have everyone “singing from the same page in the hymnal”, focused on maximizing coal production on every unit on every shift on every day, where production and maintenance people are working together, and where everyone at the minesite is accountable to the mine manager.
Liberty Mining Consultants has, upon completing its initial operations review, conducted “mentor-type” training programs side-by-side equipment operators and section supervisors to teach specific skills of safe and efficient machine operation. Our third and final phase is coaching mine management, both production and maintenance, to work together and coordinate their efforts on every shift.
In summary, we have found that by following these three steps, conduct a thorough review of the operations, train the equipment operators and section supervisors, and coach mine management to work together focusing on details and simplifying processes, significant productivity improvements are achieved.
*Liberty Mining Consultants, based in Danville, Kentucky, is an operations consulting firm providing training services worldwide to improve production efficiencies and reduce operating costs while maintaining high safety standards on both continuous miner equipment units and longwall systems.
