Good news come in succession in January that monthly targets were satisfactorily completed by Jimond, KCM and Kinsey respectively; in particular Jimond achieved 101% for monthly production target, marking the fifth yearly “good start”, KCM achieved 102% of planned output value, while Kinsey produced 130,323 tons of ore, reflecting an increase of 13,525 tons compared with December 2022, and marking the best monthly record.
From the beginning of the year, Jimond has organized all employees to carefully study the Annual Work Report issued by the Headquarters to get a better understanding of the requirements on work safety, and identified key improvement measures subject to the site condition, strengthened quality inspection and SOP implementation, ensured rectification works to eradicate hidden dangers.
Among other things, the system of “managers taking charge of shifts at the front” was strictly implemented, correction of violations and identification of hidden dangers were strengthened, execution of SOPs and work disciplines enhanced. The management and the heads of relevant divisions and departments participated in the pre-shift meetings to gain first-hand insights into actual work progress, emphasize safety precautions, and give trouble-shooting suggestions; during night shifts, Chinese shift boss worked shoulder to shoulder with South African shift boss, which effectively improved the efficiency during night shifts.
In respect of quality control from technical perspective, the surveyors would assist the jumbo operator to control the excavation size by marking the end at every shift; while geological engineer support the team in floor control by setting out each day and regularly publishing floor control result. Work acceptance meetings were held at the end of each month to summarize and analyze blasting efficiency and equipment efficiency, over/underbreak and gradient control result; the foreman and jumbo operators are required to analyze work quality and techniques, plus quality control measures are strictly implemented.
In January, 2023, KCM Project gave full play to the role of production scheduling meeting, problems were timely solved by identifying problems and deficiencies and brainstorming ideas in advance; All functional departments and offices further strengthened cooperation with the front, with all efforts made to enhance technical support, material supply and logistics support.
As required by the Owner, Kinsey Project held several special meetings to conscientiously implement incentive measures, improve process connection, strengthen inspection and maintenance of equipment. Equipment and manpower were efficiently maneuvered while production organization optimized for large-diameter long-hole stoping on -200mL. On the one hand, by strengthening shift-change management and incentive measures, the equipment efficiency and the enthusiasm of employees were both increased, which effectively ensured the timely implementation of the blasting plan. On the other hand, the most experienced LHD & truck drivers as well as the most robust LHDs & trucks are deployed in large-diameter long-hole stoping to improve loading & hauling efficiency; moreover, ore hauling efficiency was ensured by strengthening the production scheduling, timely dealing with emergencies as ore pass blockage or traffic jam.
