Last year, Tasiast recorded $83 million in savings from Continuous Improvement (CI) efforts and $42.2 million of locked-in future savings from new ideas, both the highest totals across all Kinross operations. As a result of these outstanding achievements, Tasiast was awarded the global CI award for 2015!
“I am incredibly proud of the entire team at Tasiast,” said Raitt Marshall, Vice-President and General Manager, Tasiast. “A lot of work has gone into making Continuous Improvement a part of our day-to-day activities. Thank you to the CI team and the entire site for making these positive changes a part of our daily operations.”
Tasiast identified and started 62 new CI ideas last year. Some of the improvements they’ve implemented include:
- Optimizing crushing and grinding: Reduced the number of large ore pebbles in the mill by almost 50% by maintaining consistent crusher feed size (helped by better rock blasting and fragmentation) and consistent monitoring of the hardness of the ore.
- Reduced mill downtimes: Improved plant conveyor systems for less rips, breaks, leading to considerably less mill downtimes. The site now keeps critical spare parts onsite to ensure their availability in the case of a breakdown.
- Tire repairs: Instead of throwing out a damaged tire right away, Tasiast now examines tires to see if cuts and holes can be fixed through sealing and/or filling. Previously, approximately 50% of tires that had been discarded had been from cuts and bursts. Now, the average extra life of a repaired tire is 5,800 hours.
A key to Tasiast’s success is the fact that CI is now embedded in the culture of the site and at the core of their everyday work. The CI team works to ensure a constant pipeline of new ideas and tracks the progress of each idea.
Warwick Morley-Jepson, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, presenting the award to Raitt Marshall, Vice-President and General Manager, Tasiast
The Tasiast CI team (left to right): Nick Layos, CI Analyst, Elhassan Cheiguer, Supervisor, Ahmedou Hamahoulah Mahfoudh, CI Analyst, Thiam Hamet, Administrative Assistant, Abdel Kader, CI Planner, Robert Serisier, CI Manager, Igor José Moreira Marques, CI Specialist, Joe Brana, CI Superintendent, Mohamed Naji Mohamed Ahmed, Site Services
Not pictured: Dylan Carroll, CI Superintendent
