Improving Productivity in Mining

Whilst this is a promo article from a software company there are some interesting perspectives from Dundee Precious Metals and Anglogold on how far behind the curve the mining industry is against the lean manufacturing and process control improvements that manufacturers have followed for many years. Basic data capture, controls and visualisation are key. This attention to detail will improve unit costs in a sustainable way which contrasts with simply high-grading mines. For such an incredibly capital intensive industry the focus on operational excellence seems to have been lacking.