CRADLE TO THE GRAVE
CONSIDER FUEL TRANSPORT
CRITICAL
‘Operationally excellent and efficient’ was rated as the
most important attribute by the mining industry – with
an average score of 6,09. Clearly the focus on a safety
accreditation process for both drivers and vehicles entering
mining properties carries greater importance than it does in
other industries, and the high score (5,73) for this attribute
shows how seriously mines take safety issues. Experience
and accreditation in this regard mean that only transporters
with exceptionally high safety stand a chance of winning
business.
As some of the largest users of fuel, mining houses depend
upon the timely, safe and professional delivery thereof.
With time, money, and potentially lives on the line, mining
executives give careful thought to their choice of fuel
transporter – so show the results of a recent survey into the
industry’s fuel transport needs.
Theft in all its forms is a long-established threat to mines. It is
for this reason, perhaps, that technology to mitigate theft and
underloading came in second place with a score of 6,00.
So, what are the attributes considered critical by mining houses
when choosing a fuel transporter?
“The technology to mitigate this loss is extremely expensive,
so many transporters do not install it, but amortised over
many loads and many litres, it is still likely to be lower than
the cost of fraud and theft. Transport buyers should be
aware of the real cost of not using a transporter with this
technology,” says Andre Jansen Van Vuuren – marketing
director of Cargo Carriers.
The survey respondents were senior managers in the mining
industry.
One of the factors rated was the importance as a differentiator
of fuel transporters’ B-BBEE and black ownership status. The
research suggests that the market no longer views these
as key differentiators. The indication is that buyers of fuel
transportation now see these indicators of transformation as
non-negotiables. They require these needs to be satisfied but
are now looking beyond them to other factors to differentiate
one supplier from another. This sentiment was not confined to
the mining community but was echoed in the outcome of the
same survey applied across multiple industries.
Third place in the importance ranking was a six-way tie, three of
the attributes sharing the tie were:
• Having a program to uplift and develop local communities;
• Provision of real time tracking; and
• Cost competitiveness
• Other attributes sharing the tie for third place were: Having
SHEQ industry standards; and extensive fuel transporting
experience.
So, what are the new differentiators in this market? And what
new insights did the research reveal?
TECH IMPROVES PRODUCTIVITY
Protracted pressure on margins over many years has put miners’
focus squarely on productivity. Lower commodity prices with a
steadily rising cost base and growing compliance requirements
have created a perfect storm. Africa has not been left behind in
terms of technology-focused efforts to raise productivity, with
the development of one of the world’s first automated mines
in Mali. To pursue this direction, mines are getting closer to
suppliers, to better understand what they have to offer – both
now and in the future.
Making this possible is the continuous advance in digital
technology and data management. For success depends not
just on engaging a supplier’s new technology; it must integrate
seamlessly (if possible) with the mine’s ever more complex
system of planning, monitoring and reporting.
The traditional ‘commodity bid’ by a mining company’s
procurement department is becoming less and less useful to a
corporate productivity strategy. When a mine places an order
for the supply of emulsion explosive, for instance, the tender
may have traditionally prioritised the price element. If a mine
has a strategic focus on raising its milling efficiency, however,
it will be looking beyond the emulsion as a commodity. It will
rather be looking at how the supplier can contribute to better
blasting methods – to optimise key blasting outcomes like
fragmentation. Underground mines will also want to quantify
www. africanmining.co.za
African Mining Publication
Far-sighted mining houses are delving deeper into the
technology resources of their suppliers, aiming more than ever
to leverage outside innovation for their own productivity, writes
Joe Keenan, CEO of BME.
Joe Keenan, Chief Executive Officer, BME.
the benefits of emulsions in terms of shaft efficiency, as
emulsions do not require dedicated shaft times and can even be
dropped into underground workings via dedicated pipelines. In
this way, larger miners are increasingly wanting to know about
how a supplier’s technology offering will promote long-term
productivity gains.
This means that any supplier that talks about ‘partnership’ with
mining customers has to put their money where their mouth is
– to ensure they have the capacity to integrate their technology
systems with mining operations. Only then can mines get the
full operational benefit, while properly tracking and quantifying
its impact on the whole enterprise.
African Mining
African Mining October 2019
57