Gold Fields, one of the world`s largest precious metal producers, has invested in a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) at the company`s Beatrix Mine near Virginia in the Free State.
The maintenance management module of the ON KEY enterprise asset management system will be implemented by asset management solutions provider PRAGMA Africa. The tool will be implemented across the full spectrum of the mine`s operations over the next eight months and will be accessible to all personnel on site.
The mining operation, which produces about 655 000 ounces of gold a year, covers a 15km area and includes four underground shaft complexes, the refining section and two metallurgical treatment plants. The software replaces a manual planned maintenance system of checklists and reminders that had proven inefficient for the complexity of the maintenance management of the mine.
"The manual system made record-keeping difficult and led to haphazard maintenance planning that tended to be reactive rather than proactive," says Eben Bester, engineering manager at Beatrix Mine. "ON KEY will draw attention to potential problems well in advance, and enable tracking of trends and maintenance history for in-depth knowledge of plant equipment and operations on site."
The decision by Goldfields to implement the maintenance management module followed the success of ON KEY at the company`s Kloof mine near Westonaria.
"Kloof has been using ON KEY successfully for the past four years," says Alan Tait, business development director of PRAGMA Africa. "The roll-out to Beatrix is part of a group-wide standardisation of the ON KEY system for the effective management of its assets."
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