The Glencore Matagami Mine is located about 10 km west of the city of Matagami. The Bracemac and McLeod deposits consist of several lenses rich in zinc and copper that also have low silver and gold grades. The Matagami area is host to the historical production of 8.6 billion lb of zinc and 853 million lb of copper. Glencore Matagami mine first implemented the Newtrax Mobile Equipment Telemetry system back in 2016 on their trucks and LHDs in order to maximize their haulage efficiency.
Glencore Matagami mine’s biggest challenge is the long haulage distance they have to travel every day to transport the ore out of the mine. They currently have to travel 8 km (4.9 miles) by truck, which is a significant distance, and this will be increased to 10.4 km (6.5 miles) in the coming years. Long-distance haulage means that each cycle makes a huge difference in productivity, so maximizing the load on each truck is essential to optimizing the operations of this mine.
The Newtrax Mobile Equipment Telemetry system, which is applicable to all equipment brands and models, was easily integrated to Matagami mine’s mixed fleet of trucks and LHDs.
The mine used the system to monitor the Standard Production Times of equipment, calculate the Utilization of ore haulage, and calculate the Overall Equipment Effectiveness and Loads per cycle.
6% increase in the utilization of their ore haulage.
4% increase in overall equipment effectiveness.
5% increase in loads per cycle.
The Standard Production Time report, which shows operators the activity of each piece of Mobile Equipment in a period of 24 hours, has enabled the underground operations personnel to identify problem areas quickly, discuss them as a group before the start of the shift, and apply identified improvements in order to increase their OEE down the line.
From a managerial perspective, the Newtrax system has enabled the team to make decisions based on facts that are measurable rather than off on perceptions and gut feelings. Since implementing this, they have been able to raise their average tonnage from 55 tonnes to 60 tonnes which has increased productivity; especially given the long haulage distances they are facing.