Tactical mine management

• Main Author: Dessureault, Sean
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12942

This thesis proposes a methodology that creates the core components of a tactical mine management system (TMMS) that adapts, for mining, the new information technology and management techniques that have proven to be successful for other industries. The resulting TMMS is intended to provide the motivation and means to make improvement initiatives through the use of modern management techniques that takes into account the particularities of the mining industry, operations, and culture. This work is considered important as tactical management in mining now has the opportunity to take advantage of the management technology currently available to other businesses. The methodology was developed through investigations into the history and use of production management in mining and other industries. The particularities of mining were explored to define the issues a potential management system needs to address. The proposed methodology is organised into four development phases that each produces one of the four core components of a TMMS. The first phase develops a systems plan, whereby the evolution and implementation of the management system components are planned. The second phase involves the building of a data infrastructure appropriate for the use of modern management techniques in mining. The third phase designs a set of measures for evaluation of employee and mine process performance. The fourth phase establishes procedures in which the performance measures can be used to motivate and enable improvement initiatives. Field studies over a two year period were used to develop and evaluate the TMMS methodology at several INCO Limited mines in Sudbury, Ontario. The TMMS methodology resulted in establishing the four key management components that subsequently led to motivating tactical mine managers to initiate improvement initiatives and the development of more complex management components. These initiatives were undertaken using modern management techniques such as simulation and activity based costing. The results revealed that an effective TMMS can be created using a methodology that takes mining's technical and cultural characteristics into account. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of === Graduate