idoba finds $27M extra throughput for top iron mine in 6 weeks
Improved train loadout control means more ore cars and 350,000 tons more throughput every year.
In mining, sometimes small changes can have a huge impact, especially at process pinch-points.
At one site, the newly appointed Control Systems Manager saw the opportunity. Her mine, like most with a direct rail connection, was dependent on passing the entire site’s production through the bottleneck of a train loadout (TLO) point. She could see that the bottleneck might be narrower than necessary.
Every ore car was weighed to avoid accidental overloads. But, while overloading can be catastrophic, there is a cost to underloading. An underloaded car means wasted capacity and total throughout that’s lower than it could have been. The Control Manager felt there was probably spare capacity in her system. The challenge was how to measure the shortfall, widen the bottleneck and increase throughput.
Drawing on diverse skills to optimise throughput
The Control Manager spoke with idoba and we agreed a scope of work that drew on our diverse skills.
Craig Rodgers, Head of Automation
“The project sat at the interface of data science, automation, mining technology and business improvement,” explains idoba’s Head of Automation, Craig Rodgers. “At TLO, the statistical variance of loads drives the safety margin that you need. If you have a big variance, you need a lower average load to reduce the risk of overloading. Our challenge was to tighten up that variance so the target average weight could be increased and more material carried per ore car.”
The idoba team knew exactly where to look and, working closely with the client’s process control team, we extracted the necessary data covering the previous three months.
Over six weeks, idoba’s team of three analysed the data, defined and quantified the problem, and scoped out a solution.
Reducing TLO variance increases annual revenues
As in most similar operations, the mine had a large variance in the weights of individual, loaded rail cars. To avoid the force of ore dropping into the car, and to streamline the loading operation, weighing happens several cars after being loaded. The resulting delay between the loading event and the measurement makes correction difficult.
idoba’s statistical analysis and understanding of the existing TLO system led them to identify improvements and quantify their effect.
The team recommended an alternative control technique that would reduce the delay and enable additional ore per car without increasing the risk of overloading. This would increase overall throughput by 250,000 tonnes per annum – worth AU$19 million per year.
idoba also identified further supply chain improvements that would support operators to make better decisions with data the business already had. These would yield an additional 100,000 tonnes, or AU$8 million per year.
The total potential upside of idoba’s six-week project was AU$27 million per year, without any additional investment in mine infrastructure beyond the control solutions proposed.
Critically, for the Control Systems Manager, the proposed solutions were designed to be a powerful decision-support tool for the mine’s expert controllers.
idoba’s Director of Improvement and Transformation says: “A good solution should empower the experts. It shouldn't constrain them. You can have the best solution in the world, but if you don't tailor it to the specific user group, you're left holding the ball.”
The Control Systems Manager was delighted with the outcome, a quick and early win for her new role. The six-week project identified an annual revenue upside of $27 million, with no significant capital expenditure required.
How can idoba’s combination of data science and mining expertise help optimise your operations? Chat with us to see how we can help.