60% of Waste in Every Mining Operation - Business Improvement Tools Essential for your Mine Site

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Despite a global mining boom, South African mining growth has lagged due to a weaker currency. This is why business improvement in mining is more important than ever. Business improvement tools ensure mining companies can effectively deal with fall in demand but also efficiently step into gear once the economy has recovered.

According to Leila Scarcia, Business Improvement Specialist, of Energy Resources Australia at Rio Tinto, one of the most crucial steps for business improvement is waste elimination. It is one of the largest contributors to operating costs in mine sites and most commonly occur in areas such as such as transportation, inventory, over production and over processing. Ms Scarcia believes there is 60% of waste in every operation and therefore business excellence can be improved by following the concept of lean manufacturing and eliminating or minimising waste to reduce operational costs.

But where would a mine site identify where to start waste elimination? According to Ms Scarcia “the first step is to challenge the status quo – so all the conditions. The waste needs to be identified and after doing so, a more efficient process and system of doing things will arise. Waste elimination is a big opportunity for the team or for an organisation to analyse and improve.”

Of course there are many more ways for business improvement in mining but waste elimination is definitely a great start and a way to motivate you and your team to look at other areas of improvement. You can hear more about waste elimination and other business improvement tools at Business Improvement in Mining Africa in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on 17 – 19 September. For details visit http://www.businessimprovementinmining.com