Mine to Market March-April 2012 - Mount Isa Mines

MICO ContinuousImprovement projectThe Conveyance Rope Protector in operationMICOshaftsAt Xstrata, we encourage ouremployees to continuallybring new ideas to the tableon how we can improveour operations.Troy Goodman – Fitter, Shafts andHoisting at Xstrata Copper, has done justthat with his invention of the ConveyanceRope Protector, designed for errormanagement when cutting and burningropes on conveyances.The Conveyance Rope Protector is acylindrical tube (50mm long), fabricatedand complete with hinges and tag line.Glen Allen – Superintendent ShaftsMaintenance, said Troy’s invention hadmany safety benefits and extended the lifeof equipment.“It’s very efficient way of controllingcutting and burning hazards when workingaround conveyance attachments andropes,” Glen said.John (Sid) Edwards – Acting Supervisor (right),presenting Troy Goodman with a $250 voucherfor his invention.Copper ConcentratorEmbraces CIPaul Radulovic – PlantMetallurgist at the CopperConcentrator, is one of manyMICO employees whose CI ideawas successfully implementedinto our operations in 2011.Paul’s Slag ChangeoverRecovery Improvement ControlValve has improved slag metalrecovery by automating controlchangeover and removinghuman error.As a Continuous ImprovementChampion, Paul believes MICO’sCI initiative has improved theCopper Concentrator’s safety,production, environment andfinancial performances.Continuous Improvement Champion – Paul Radulovic – Plant Metallurgist at the Copper ConcentratorIntroduced in early 2011, Mount Isa Copper Operation’s (MICO) ContinuousImprovement (CI) program is designed to ensure the continued sustainabilityof our operations.Based on two components, including Operational Excellence and CI, theprogram is based around ensuring we constantly achieve our targets, and arealways striving to find new and improved methods of the way we do things.Steve Gillam – Continuous Improvement Advisor at MICO Business Supportsaid the CI project was developed to harness ideas from within MICO’s workforce.“We were confident that a lot of ideas existed within the workforce, however,there wasn’t a process in place to capture them,” Steve said.“As such, MICO’s CI department was formed to assist in collecting andimplementing ideas from our employees.”The program is designed to enhance our business by making improvementsin areas such as safety, production, environmental and financial performances.“Almost 300 ideas were received from the workforce last year and giventhat the CI culture is a new concept at MICO, we were very pleased with theworkforce’s response,” Steve said.A large number of these ideas were successfully implemented after beingreviewed using an Idea Ratings Matrix which evaluated completed ideasaccording to the time to implement the idea, cost of the project, value creationand success of the project.Employees responsible for these implemented ideas each received giftvouchers varying in value up to $250.All MICO employees are encouraged to submit CI ideas. Workers canapproach their supervisor with their suggestion, contact any of the CI team,or submit the form available on the Intranet under the CI hotlink.mine to market11