GOLD
Tumen Badarch, Senior Mine Engineer, Fort Knox
Tumen was one of the first Generation Gold participants in 2007, and worked at some of Kinross’ global operations and at Fort Knox. After finishing the four-year program, he returned to Fort Knox as a full-time employee in the Technical Services Department.
Since returning to Fort Knox, he has become a highly valued member of the technical team and is responsible for making tactical mine planning decisions on site and determining their financial implications.
“He helps the rest of us to want to look for opportunities to improve,” said Taylor Taipale, Mine Engineer, Fort Knox.
Tumen is a strategic thinker with a strong technical background and always pushes himself and the team to find more efficient ways of operating.
“He is constantly planning and re-planning the path to success for Fort Knox, while staying ahead of the changing environment as it relates to mining,” said Josh Clelland, Senior Mine Engineer, Fort Knox.
Tumen was an important contributor to the recent heap leach expressway project, which focused on optimizing haul routes. He was able to identify a more efficient haulage route to and from the heap leach pads, helping to shorten the travel time of haul trucks by eight minutes.
“My colleagues helped me put the business case together. My focus was really: how do we save on cycle times in our big haul trucks?” said Tumen.
This change has the potential to save millions of dollars in diesel costs.
Tumen credits a collaborative team approach for the achievement: “I couldn’t have done it alone. It involves a lot of different aspects of mining – from processing, mine operations, maintenance and engineering. People from every department contributed to this project.”
“He continues to come up with new and creative ideas and is always re-working what he does and looking for new opportunities,” continued Josh.
