ZINC IS IN THE ASCENDANCY
We ’ re proactively working with them , and the union , on an ongoing collective bargaining negotiation .”
Buncic is keen to nurture a workforce he knows is integral to the mine ’ s success and stresses their safety is key : “ It was a challenge for previous owners Nyrstar as the mine had fatalities in the past . It ’ s critical for us that everybody who comes to work here goes home , so that ’ s a challenge we ’ re ready to meet as we accelerate operations .”
When asked what he considers Ascendant ’ s greatest successes so far with the El Mochito project , Buncic is keen to focus again on the workforce : “ Gaining alignment with the employees of the mine at all levels of the operation is something we ’ ve had success with and will continue to work on . We ’ ve shown we ’ ll be a positive force in restoring the mine for our mutual success which has had a positive effect in the community . We ’ ve had great support from the local mayor as well as the federal government .” By implementing a series of short term management projects , Ascendant has been able to fix many operational problems to help drive throughput . “ An example would be getting our cycle times up in hauling ore to the bottom of the shaft ,” offers Buncic . “ There ’ s a 2,300-ton-per-day concentrator flotation mill that ’ s in great working order , and the shaft has a 4,000-ton-per-day hoisting capacity , so there ’ s no problems getting ore up the shaft , it ’ s really about getting the ore to the bottom of the shaft from the face . It ’ s a logistical and training issue to increase our cycle times ; and then it becomes a supervision issue .”
Allied to cycle times , Ascendant has implemented critical shift changes on its trucks . “ We ’ ve gone from three eight-hour shifts to four ,” he says . “ Because the distance from the headframe on the surface to the working face can take 45 minutes to get to and back , then with 30 minutes for lunch , you ’ re losing a lot of time during the day . With that fourth shift , we ’ re changing over at the truck and going from 15 to 22 productive hours in a day . That gets utilisation of equipment up and more ore to the bottom of the shaft .”
With greater utilisation comes an even greater need for implementing preventative maintenance programs . With a fleet entering its eighth year of
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