Remote Mining Assessment
In order to continue servicing our international and domestic clients during travel restrictions, Outliers Mining Solutions has successfully developed a remote version of our operational and asset management assessment, which provides outstanding value through deep-dive analysis and opportunity identification. A typical outcome from these assessments identifies production improvement opportunities that range from an 8% to 25% increase in mine performance and equipment reliability.
What makes Outliers Mining Solutions’ operational assessment unique is our ability to extract significant insights by analyzing data from the fleet management system at its most granular level. This deep-dive analysis is exhaustive, evaluating all aspects of mine and maintenance performance which is then summarized in a quantified and prioritized improvement plan. We also don’t mind providing answers on how to close performance gaps. You won’t find generic recommendations like “improve shift change,” we provide tactical actions that can be executed by the site team.
The remote mine assessment is comprised of three critical deep-dive areas:
Mine Operations Deep-Dive Analysis
- Agreement on baseline period for analysis is typically set within 3-6 months to ensure the baseline represents current operational performance
- Deep dive statistical analysis into each utilization and productivity driver
- Variability of the process
- Crew to crew performance
- Events preceding and following certain statuses
- Quantify opportunities in increased tonnes / BCM or cost reduction (equipment hours)
- Build capability model for loading, hauling, and drilling fleets at the most granular detail collected by the FMS
- Historical trends
- Hour to hour variation (time of day)
- Operator variability
- Set improvement targets based on OMS benchmarks, internal best practice observed (crew /operator/production period), and with input from the site team
- Tactical action plan and recommendations to close performance gaps
Fleet Management System Deep-Dive Analysis
- Review of data integrity and data capture
- Mine model health and set-up
- Review of configurable parameters and recommendations for site-specific optimization
- Crew to crew performance
- Evaluation of dispatching performance
- Truck queue % and shovel hang % by individual dispatchers
- How much are dispatchers using the dynamic algorithm to assign trucks
- How efficient and productive are the start of shift and end of shift
- How well do the dispatchers manage the fleet during lunch and break periods
Asset Management Deep-Dive Analysis
- Asset Management objectives, strategic planning, and decision-making
- Maintenance tactics – link to operating performance requirements and reliability engineering principle
- Maintenance materials – procurement and inventory management processes
- Collaboration and employee empowerment
- Organization and people – Clear definition of roles and responsibilities
- Work identification, planning, scheduling, and execution
- Asset information – standards, systems, and data & information management
- Risk mitigation, asset performance, and health monitoring, and management review and governance
Case Study: Outliers Mining Solutions Remote Assessment
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, several of Outliers Mining Solutions’ operational assessments had to be completed remotely due to travel restrictions.
In one such assessment, completed in 2020, the work scope included an operations assessment covering Mine Operations, including loading, hauling and drilling fleets, and the site’s fleet management system. The Outliers Mining Solutions team got to work establishing a remote connection to the site’s fleet management system database to extract production data from the baseline period and start the analysis.
