CONTRACT MINING
Looking beyond OPEX
With productivity and safety two key selling points for contract miners , it was only a matter of time before they started adopting new innovative technologies to further improve the mine operation status quo . Dan Gleeson speaks to some of the leaders in the field to find out more
Contract miners have made it their business
to home in on cost per tonne and LTIFR metrics to ensure their mining clients turn a profit , as well as guarantee their staff return home safely every day .
Yet , the next round of contract mining operating efficiencies and safety advances are likely to come through the leveraging of new contract models , new technology and new thinking in both open-pit and underground mining services .
This will help the contract mining sector , once again , strengthen its pitch to industry .
Re-allocating risk
“ Contract miners obviously have a different focus to miners ,” Jeremy Petter-Bowyer , Managing Director of SPH Kundalila , a turnkey mining solutions provider , says . “ A miner will be mostly focused on ore grades and extraction rates , wanting the maximum grade at the highest volume their plant can handle , and at the optimal extraction rate .
“ A contractor ’ s focus is on moving the largest
volume at the lowest cost per tonne , thereby driving productivity on the mining side . A key benefit of contract mining is to reduce the mine owner ’ s exposure to capital ; instead , it is the contractor who takes the risk on capital .”
It makes a lot of sense to allow mining companies to reduce capital risk and concentrate on extraction and processing by offloading haulage to a contractor , but , as mining expertise has dwindled and capital has become harder to access with the commodity downturn , contractors have diversified to fill more gaps in the value chain .
At the same time as this , contract miners , aware of the cyclical nature of mining , are building in flexibility to their offerings , according
The rollout of the autonomous drill fleet at Tropicana is believed to be an industry first for hard-rock mining using top hammer versus the more traditional rotary concept for blast-hole drilling , Macmahon says
to Rodger Herne , Managing Director of Concor Opencast Mining .
“ Among the various challenges in the course of mining operations is managing the market fluctuations or cycles ,” he told IM . “ In times like these , there is considerable variation in the demand and price trends of different
Concor Opencast Mining says it can operate across the full open-cast mining spectrum
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020 | International Mining 35