‘Keep the Cream’ - Reconciling Coal Recovery at BMAGoonyella Riverside

摘要

CREAM is an acronym for coal recovery, evaluation, analysis andrnmanagement and is a business improvement project at BMA’s GoonyellarnRiverside mine that is focussed on maximising coal recovered.rnIn August 2003, Goonyella Riverside was set a challenge to quantifyrncoal loss and dilution and their relationship to cost, revenue andrnultimately profit. While the mine was confident in its site forecasts ofrnrecovery (and loss), it was clear that the traditional measurement andrnanalysis systems were inadequate to firstly, identify key loss areas andrnmechanisms and secondly, successfully quantify the benefit of variousrncoal recovery initiatives.rnThe path that BMA Goonyella Riverside has travelled to maximiserncoal recovered can be divided into four key steps:rn1. Mapping the process – This step involved the development of a coalrnflow process map for Goonyella Riverside that stepped through eachrncomponent of the process from the coal reserve to the customer andrnidentified key measurement points for the purposes of reconciliation.rn2. Understanding coal loss and identifying opportunities – This steprninvolved conducting two detailed Reserve to Customer projects at thernmine site to track a block of coal from the reserve to the customerrnand to gain a greater understanding of the relationship of dilution,rncoal loss mechanisms, revenue and costs associated with recoveringrnadditional coal.rn3. Coal data systems development – Two important coal data systemsrnhave been developed and implemented at Goonyella Riverside in thernpast twelve months, namely Snowden’s Coal Reconcilor andrnSeamFix. These systems enable coal losses and dilution to bernquantified and reconciled back to the initial coal reserve.rn4. Implementation of loss reduction initiatives – This step involved thernformation of a business improvement project referred to as ‘CREAM’rnin August 2004, for the purposes of improving pit coal recovery andrnmaximising business value. To date a series of coal recovery trialsrnhave been run in a number of pits at Goonyella Riverside that havernyielded significant improvements in business value.The key to the success of this project has been the discipline to followrna defined process map, management commitment through resourcing andrnshared key performance indicators, a successful acceptance strategyrnresulting in holistic ownership and the implementation of sustainablernreconciliation systems. Coal loss and dilution are now quantifiable andrntheir relationship to cost, revenue and ultimately profit is well understood.rnThis paper discusses the process that Goonyella Riverside has adopted tornmaximise coal recovered.