Diego joined Kinross in 2020 and works as a Tire Repair Supervisor at La Coipa, where he is responsible for the care and maintenance of our trucks’ tires and always keeps a keen eye on finding improvements to result in cost savings.
In 2022, Diego led an initiative to extend the life of tires on extraction trucks and front loaders from the expected 7,000 hours to over 9,000 hours, with some trucks reaching over 12,000 hours. These milestones were accomplished using remote online temperature and pressure monitoring, replacing air with nitrogen for tire pressurization, and incorporating an operator awareness plan to track tire care and maintenance.
The operator awareness plan was instrumental in successfully executing the tire life extension project. The plan focused on using operator feedback to understand where gaps existed, and how we can incorporate solutions to achieve better results. The plan continues to be a crucial part of the extension project, with hopes of reaching our goal of 15,000 hours in coming years.
As a result of this project, La Coipa has seen an increase in equipment uptime, improving availability and productivity rates, which has resulted saved over $1.7 million in the last two years.
“Since Diego joined Kinross, he has been focused on tire management, on maintenance, on savings, and he has been very successful in delivering results to us,” said Carlos Olivares Andrade, Head of Mine Maintenance, Kinross Chile. “What makes him stand out as a good employee is his excellent leadership, his ability to work as part of a team, and above all, he is an excellent person who is committed to doing good work and saving the Company money in the process.”
