Turn dragline data into dollars

Mines have the potential to add $2million value per dragline per year, through better selection and training practices, according to mining consultancy group, GBI Mining Intelligence.
GBI’s Graham Lumley said vast amounts of data generated on draglines throughout the world can be turned into productivity and profitability.
“In order to remedy the problem of dragline operator variability, inefficiencies need to be found and tools and tactics need to be put in place to align the equipment and the operator with best practice,” he said.
Many mines throughout Australia operate draglines at levels far below capacity - some at 50 per cent or less, costing mines millions of dollars each year.
“All mining operators are different and yet most mines are not using a recently developed and validated way of determining the performance capabilities of individual operators, nor are they identifying what support is needed to help them to perform to their potential.
“Most mines also don’t use effective processes to identify prospective ‘top’ performers for trainee positions. For some jobs the process may be no more than who is next in line.
“It also needs a commitment to train the new people properly, not just put them on the machine and expect them to learn. We have proof that recent trainees are achieving lower skill sets than those trained 20 years ago”, he said.
For mines to improve their performance they need to be provided with intelligence about how the equipment they are using is more productive at other sites and what they need to do to replicate best practice productivity.
“Operators with more than 30 years’ experience can still operate mining equipment at a sub-optimal level,” Lumley said.
In one example, equipment operators at a site in Australia had been taught not to fill a dragline bucket, but rather to pick the bucket up early and swing hard. Using equipment data and on-site knowledge of the same make and model GBI was able to demonstrate that the piece of equipment was operating at 42 per cent below best practice productivity.
“GBI worked with the operators to change the bucket filling philosophy. In one month the payload increased by 30 per cent and the resulting productivity continued to increase over time. This mine is currently 38 per cent over its original filling capacity, saving the mine millions of dollars per year,” Lumley said.
Mines have vast amounts of data which is generated through the dragline’s production and maintenance loggers. Interpreted and analysed correctly the data analysis can be applied to assist mines to achieve best practice and remain competitive with increased profits in a changing economic environment.