SOUTHERN AFRICAN OPEN CUT DIAMOND MINE
Processed kimberlite up 38% in a year; mine life extended to 2037
The Challenge
The mine was falling behind on payments to its suppliers and was months away from the end of its life of mine. In 2013 it processed 2.1 million tons of kimberlite and ran at a loss. The kimberlite processing plant was the operation's bottleneck.
LOCATION
Southern Africa
MINE TYPE
Open Cut Diamond Mine
PROCESSED KIMBERLITE INCREASE
+38%
What changed
In July 2014, managers and workers from every department received two weeks of training in running a daily operations room around the processing-plant constraint. Our on-site support then had to pause for three months, partly because of political instability. The team kept lifting production regardless, which showed how much a site's own people can do once the operating conditions change. The three-minute video below tells the story.
Results
Kimberlite processed rose from 2.1 Mt in 2013 to 2.9 Mt in 2014, a 38% increase. The supplier backlog was cleared, the mine returned to profit, and the owners extended its life to 2037.