Mining Digital September 2021 | Page 45

DIGITAL MINING

“ One common mistake mining operators make is they report the significance of reliability in words ”

pumped into expansions , setting up spare units , data storage , visualisation systems , etc . Organisations can save up cash and improve their balance sheet , but the reliability quotient will decline over time .
The debt load went down from US $ 178bn in 2015 to US $ 147bn in 2016 . At the same time , capital expenditure was reduced by US $ 21bn from 2015 to 2016 . That is a 40 % year-over-year decline .
A reduction in capital expenditures might appear to be a relief , but this adversely affects reliability . There is no capital being
Relation between Profitability and Reliability The same logic applies to any business : the lesser the operating cost , the more the operating margin . However , this does not hold for mining organisations . The study shows that mining operators that spent least on reliability incurred more profits . It points out that mining operators that spend a lot on reliability are unlikely to get better returns .
It raises one important question : if miners overspend on reliability , why is it challenging to cut down their reliability spending ? The study suggests that mining operators can reduce their spending but , at the same time , reinvest excess reliability spend while ensuring profitability . Hence , to gain fruitful outcomes and profits , it is important to optimise the reliability spend .
Closing Thoughts Also , as the economy is continually evolving , digitisation of activities demands better utilisation of the reliability budget . To ensure strategic reliability investments , the study suggests intentional , multi-dimensional , system-wide analysis . miningglobal . com 45