Published in June 2008 Australian Longwall Magazine

Every mine wants to improve productivity by simply making work what they already have and not purchasing additional machines or more technology. Furthermore, longwall gateroads should no longer be treated as necessary evils but rather as potential profit centres. With the right systems and mindset we at Liberty Mining Consultants have found this is achievable.

Liberty has worked in the United States, Australia, China, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom, helping underground coal mines to improve productivity on continuous miner and bolter-miner equipment units, and longwall systems.

Over the past 20 years or so, continuous miner and bolter-miner equipment systems have made their way into just about every coal producing country. We first saw the equipment introduced on a large scale in Australia, South Africa and the UK. Today, there are continuous miners and bolter-miners operating literally everywhere and with various levels of success – even in the same country.

We have found that where continuous miners and bolter-miners are not achieving the desired productivity levels, the typical explanations are not always the true reasons or the whole story.

Yes, we have been told continuous miners and bolter-miners have limitations in their country, their mining conditions are different to those elsewhere in the world, their labour union issues will not allow them to operate as in other countries, the equipment manufacturer sold them machines with the wrong specifications for their conditions, and so on.

Even the reasons for the substandard productivity will be different within the same company: those given by head office, those of mine management, those of the maintenance department, those of the section supervisors, and those of the equipment operators.

As a result, we propose the first phase of any international productivity improvement project is a thorough review of the operations to fully understand the causes and magnitude of the production delays. Basically, before you can fix anything you must first understand what is broken. Yes, we do find that sometimes the machines are not ideal for the conditions and some equipment is old and needs replacing; however, often these issues are not the only reasons for substandard productivity.

We have found, in some cases, the outbye support functions at the mines are inadequate for maximum productivity.

Any mine implementing continuous miner and bolter-miner equipment units must address the supply and personnel transport systems and the conveyor belts. Too often mines have omitted these necessary upgrades and thus are unable to significantly increase productivity.

Another example is that mines purchase only some of the section equipment, for example a continuous miner or bolter-miner, a roof bolter and two shuttle cars, and not a scoop, nor a feeder-breaker. The elimination of these essential machines also reduces the productivity potential from the unit, in any country. Mines cannot expect to, and will not, achieve the productivity potential without implementing the entire system.

Another example is that Australia has some of the most complex and extensive ground-control and roof-bolting requirements in the world, which can result in production delays. We carefully look at these delays to determine if any bolting can be safely completed during idle periods and not affect coal production.

What we generally have found during our initial review of the operations is that when a mine implemented the new continuous miner or bolter-miner units, or attempted to increase productivity from existing units, management further complicated matters rather than simplifying them. They usually added staff personnel, introduced more elaborate tracking systems, created additional reports, and scheduled additional meetings to discuss what happened yesterday. What should have happened was the exact opposite.

Management should realise that the most important people on the property are the ones operating the continuous miners and bolter-miners, and that they are the ones making money for the company. Everyone else must understand that their job is to maximise the coal-cutting time of the continuous miner or bolter-miner operators. Any other activities are only distractions and take away from management’s ability to focus on maximising productivity.

This starts with management, both production and maintenance, by reducing the number and length of meetings on the surface, going underground and onto the continuous miner or bolter-miner units – after all, that’s where the band is playing. Only then can management learn first-hand the causes of production delays and subsequently take steps to reduce or eliminate those delays.

It is no coincidence that when you find many people outside at a coal mine, mine management is focused and the mine is safe, productive and profitable. We have found the management of the most productive coal mines in the world pays close attention to details, is quick to make decisions, and most importantly keeps things simple.

As an example, section foremen reports are a clear and concise summary of not only the coal production activities on their shift, but also note equipment problems, supplies needed, effective use of non-coal production time, and preparations for belt and power extensions.

The most productive coal mines have everyone singing from the same page in the hymnal, focused on maximising coal production every day on every unit, on every shift; where production and maintenance people are working together; and where everyone at the minesite is accountable to the mine manager.

Liberty Mining Consultants has, on completing its initial operations review, conducted “mentor-type” training programs by working side by side with equipment operators and section supervisors. We have helped improve the employee skills for safe and efficient machine operation and supervision, and significantly reduced production delays. Our third and final phase is coaching mine management, both production and maintenance, to work together and coordinate their efforts on every shift, and to mine more coal during the increased available production time during the shift.

In summary, we have found that by conducting a thorough review of operations, training the equipment operators and section supervisors, and coaching mine management to work together focusing on details and simplifying processes, significant productivity improvements are achieved.