In May, the Continuous Improvement (CI) teams at Bald Mountain and Round Mountain came together to share best practices and focus on goals for the remainder of the year.
The teams discussed new and ongoing CI initiatives at each site, and had an open discussion on challenges and areas for improvement in an effort to collaborate and share resources to benefit our Nevada operations.
“In my 28 years in the mining industry, I see a lot of reoccurring themes that we continue to work on year in and year out,” said Vicente Ramirez, Continuous Improvement Manager, Bald Mountain. “When we stop looking at how our sites differ, and start looking at their commonalities, we can find ways to share resources to help each other out.”
Over the course of the two days, the teams discussed efficiencies to streamline processes, including implementing technology advances such as drones to better utilize resources and improve turnaround times for results. They also discussed ways to maximize tire life by optimizing road maintenance that could result in cycle time improvements.
The teams also looked at their goals for the remainder of the year, including achieving production targets and improving the safety culture through each sites’ CRM (Critical Risk Management) programs to inspire a shared vision and increase engagement within all levels of the Round and Bald Mountain teams.
“The key to successful improvement efforts is communication,” said John Miller, Continuous Improvement Facilitator, Round Mountain. “Each site has unique challenges that require an unconstrained mindset to discover the best methods to overcome these challenges, then implement and sustain the improvement. This visit gave our teams time to share our successes and observe how we integrate continuous improvement into the daily activities of our mine.”
