Keep on the pulse

Improving mine plan compliance using activity based planning and execution

Improving mine plan compliance using activity based planning and execution

Compliance to plan can be the single largest driver of organisational performance. Getting it right ensures all planned value is realised and getting it wrong creates a vicious cycle of missed targets and re-forecasting, driving misalignment and inefficiency at all levels of the business.

The improvement of mine planning software has allowed operations to become clearer on the progress of completing activities against the plan, rather than focussing solely on outcomes. To be successful, the planning team needs to outline a plan across all activities of the mining cycle that mine operations can deliver against, and operations are then responsible for delivering this plan by ensuring schedule adherence.


Root causes of low compliance to plan

The complexity around mining operations means that it is important to understand the root causes for low compliance to plan and ensuring processes and tools are in place to proactively manage them. The Prioritisation, Accountable, Resources and Specificity (PARS) framework outlines the four elements required for a plan to succeed. Building PARS into a mining schedule and execution plan helps to clearly define what is required, by whom and by when – giving the plan a maximum chance of success.

The PARS acronym outlines the four requirements for rapid execution
Prioritisation

Are all critical tasks being focussed on?


Accountable

Do all tasks have single-point accountability for delivery?

Resources

Have suitable resources (and back-ups) been allocated?


Specificity

Are all tasks detailed so the accountable person understands what is expected?


  • Availability of ancillary equipment for pad/pattern preparation tasks: E.g. dozers to prep the pattern preparation area have been allocated to clean loading areas rather than prepare areas for drilling
  • Equipment breakdown: This factor can be amplified by a poor mobile fleet maintenance strategy (regular inspections or repository of commonly required spares) and inadequate allocation of back-up resources
  • Blend change requests based on delays to ore exposure: This occurs when a delay in mining activities before loading and hauling results in the ore not being available – can cause ~10% decrease against the plan
  • Unplanned activities delaying mining: E.g. a wall collapse that has resulted in extra buttressing being required, extra scaling or a drainage programme to remove flooding incurred in the pit – can cause ~5% decrease against the plan
  • Planning errors: Common causes of errors include activities missing from the plan, inaccurate starting positions or unachievable assumptions – can cause ~5% decrease against the plan
Common causes of a decrease against the plan, %

Common causes of a decrease against the plan, %




A way forward: Using activity-based planning and execution

Creating activity-based plans that drive success

Traditional mining plans were developed based on targets such as tonnes moved and grade obtained, rather than the how-to required to obtain these targets. Modern planning software has shifted towards a focus on what activities are required to be completed throughout the plan to make it clearer how targets will be achieved by mine operations.

To fully exploit the capabilities of modern planning software, planners need to ensure that all critical activities across the operation are included in the plan. This means that they should not just be planning load and haul activities, but also HDH drilling, production drilling, explosive loading, scaling and drilling pattern preparation. Planners should understand the key duration levers of these activities, as well as the KPI assumptions required to complete these activities e.g. drill metres required and assumed drill rate obtained to meet requirements.

Bench activity-based schedule (illustrative example)

Bench activity

In addition to production activities, top-performing plans should identify accompanying critical tasks, such as battering, buttressing and drainage required to complete production activities.

Once critical tasks have been identified, planners should ensure the right resources are allocated to these tasks. As previously highlighted, the most common reason for a task starting late is the unavailability of equipment. For this reason, resources should only be allocated to one task at any given time within the plan and where possible, back-ups should be identified for equipment known to break down. A good way to ensure this is to include a line-up board and mining schedules within the plan. All tasks must have a person who is accountable for delivery – remembering that accountability is taken, rather than given.


Translating an activity-based plan into execution

Once you have a plan that clearly outlines the what, who, where and when, an effective hand-off to mine operations should occur to ensure that planners and mine operations are aligned on the plan and the deliverables.

Providing full transparency in planned mining activities is a pivotal shift in paradigm for mining. Activity-based plans enable the operations team to track performance with a more holistic view compared to previous plans, which simply tracked equipment performance and high-level target achievement. Mine operations will need to shift their frame of thinking towards completing activities, particularly those on the critical path – understanding that if they manage the inputs and complete the activities within the plan, the outcomes will take care of themselves.

To ensure mine operations adapt to the new ways of working, daily reviews should be held and contain the following critical elements:
  • Close-the-loop on previously assigned corrective actions on outstanding activities or activities being conducted slower than planned
  • Review rates of mining activities currently in progress
  • Review developed and tracked input KPIs as a percentage of mining activities from the previous day that started on time, as well as the week-to-date output KPIs of blocks turned over against the plan and volumetric spatial compliance
  • Prioritise what mining tasks need to be completed throughout the entire operation – not just production tasks, but critical tasks too
  • Assign corrective actions for variances to plan with regards to starting and finishing activities on time



Case studies

Identified opportunities to double the development rate of an underground mine expansion

Context

Our client, a miner, was in the development phase of an underground mine expansion. The project was more than 30 days behind schedule, and the gap was increasing daily. The client needed to improve the project’s readiness to start activities and completion rates.

Client achieved
  • Increased development advance rate by 62%
  • Cycle time reduced from 36 to 19 hours/cycle by focussing on key cycle delay drivers
  • Weekly CP Metres Gap to recovery plan from internal delays dropped from 30 to 1 metre/week in six months
What we did
  • Analysed historical performance to identify best-in-class targets for advance rates
  • Created activity-based job cards for the frontline
    • Prioritised and value-focussed actions
    • Accepted accountabilities
    • Closed-the-loop on activities
  • Tracked progress on tasks throughout the whole operation and compliance to plan using Power BI dashboards and managed delivery through WAR rooms and one-on-one meetings
Critical path advance rate

(metres/week)

Critical path advance rate


15% increase to spatial compliance by implementing a rate and readiness tracker

Context

A gold mine had been producing 20% less gold than its target. A significant cause of this under-production was driven by lower grade than planned. This was a result of low spatial compliance, driven by daily planning being misaligned with the weekly plan.

Client achieved
15% improvement over two months in spatial compliance by:
  • Implementing a block readiness and rate tracker into their daily reviews to help them prioritise critical tasks
  • Implementing weekly mining maps into daily planning meetings to improve daily plan to weekly plan compliance
  • Conducting weekly mining reviews to review variances to plan and assign corrective actions
What we did
  • Coached the client to conduct root cause analysis on variances to plan and assign impactful corrective actions
  • Developed the tools to:
    • Help mine operations prioritise mining activities daily
    • Track input and output mining rate and readiness KPIs
    • Track volumetric spatial compliance
Compliance against plan

%

Compliance against plan, %



Conclusion

The shift in paradigm in mine planning from a target-based approach to a mining activity-based approach enables mine operations to take a more holistic view of the activities required to be completed. This results in an increase in compliance to plan and the operation’s ability to reach high-level targets.


About the author

Richard-Horton-teal-circle

 

Richard manages our global Mining Practice. He has over 10 years’ experience across operational planning, engineering and leadership roles with a focus on business improvement, transformation and production optimisation. He has performed several senior level mine planning and mine engineering roles in Australia, South East Asia and Latin America, and managed mining studies for major mining houses.