July 15, 2004 6:30 – 9:30pm WSA Hospitality Dinner, No host bar Elko, NV Stockman’s Hotel & Casino

July 16, 2004 WRMMA Meeting Minutes – Elko, Nevada Stockman’s Hotel & Casino - Upstairs

7:00a.m. to 7:30a.m. Registration / Sign in – Ellis Ritz

Dues $30.00 per person $100.00 for 4 persons or more from one site

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Your Officer’s

Co-Chairman Bob Frayser - Newmont

Co-Chairman Mitch Geyer - Newmont

Secretary / Treasurer Ellis Ritz - Placer Dome

Minutes Stenographer – No Show

Attendance:

            Bob Frayser – Newmont West

            Ellis Ritz – Cortez Gold

            Carlos Guzman – Cortez Gold

            Chris Chrestensen – Cortez Gold

            Mitch Peltomaa – Glamis Gold

            Robert Flowers – Newmont West

            Robert Boothman – Newmont East

            Randy Nicholson – Newmont West

            Randy Painter – Newmont East

            Bret Wadford – Newmont East

            Wayne Muir – Komatsu Equipment

Bill Cox – Newmont West

Bob Hinkley – RMMS

Mike Doorman – Newmont West

Rich Stersic – Newmont West

John Richards – Cashman Equip.

Jim Trosper – Coeur Rochester

Mike Gleason – Coeur Rochester

Bob Argo – Smith Detriot Diesel

           

7:30a.m. to 9:15a.m. General Business – Report Outs

Bob welcomed everyone and went around the room for introductions.  He also went over the agenda and adjusted the presentations, as there were some absentee’s that were to give presentations.

The website update was that we would be changing hosts on August 1st but that the current contract ends on august 17th.  The site crashed once under this contract and we would be fixing the password area to make it easier to sign in.  Bob asked if the mining companies would add a link to the association. 

 

We discussed Site News, Changes, Best Practices, Safety, agenda items and a little gossip.

 

This was the first meeting held where we involved vendors, we had representatives Komatsu, Cashman, Smith Detroit, Rocky Mountain Machine shop.  We had a very positive meeting and the vendors proved to be a welcome addition to our discussions.

 

One of the first comments was that we needed to change the meeting day to Thursday rather than Friday. Many of the members have Fridays off and this change would accommodate them and perhaps draw more members.

 This will be brought up at the next officers meeting before a final decision is made.

 

Carlin East, It was stated that they had a new General Manager. We discussed the park brake problem on the 994d loaders.  It seems you can’t integrate new parts with used parts that appear reusable. The portable fuel skid was also mentioned but a presentation will be given later.

 

Newmont talked about how they move equipment between properties and how the records as well as the equipment numbers stay with the machine wherever it goes.  The tracking system (Ellipse) Newmont uses will also distribute costs that can be viewed on the Newmont Network. There is a possibility that there will be some different equipment showing up at Lone Tree.  Newmont also has a global parts tracking mechanism as well as an equipment register that can be viewed from any site.

Gold Quarry, due to the expansion are keeping their supervisors on day shift and transfer authority to the leadmen on night shift and weekends. Gold Quarry added a 23-yard shovel and 2 trucks to the existing fleet.

 

Wayne Muir from Komatsu talked to everyone about the new service manager they just hired.  Talked about being short staffed and how hard it is to find trained people.  He also spoke to the 1200 loader running at Marigold.

 

Mitch P from Marigold talked about the mines newest expansion and the new equipment they are running.  They purchased 2-dml drills, 1-1200 Komatsu Loader, 4-EH 5000 Euclid’s.  Mitch spoke about a few problems with the Cummins engines (Valves).  He was asked if they had seen any filter plugging with the 16 V Detroit’s?  He said no but would take note to watch for it.  He explained that at Marigold the fuel is filtered as it comes off the delivery trucks.

 

Newmont, Cox, talked about new hire safety training as well as the cross training program new hires go through. The standard procedure for new hires is one week of safety, site tours and cross-occupational training.  They are also schooled in work order entry and familiarization with the computer system.

After this statement Mitch from Marigold stated that all their employees are put through all parts of the operation.

 

Rocky Mountain Machine shop said that they were going to purchase a route truck to help delivery times.  He also talked about the rising steel costs and the Chroming process they use.  They employee 40 Journeymen machinists, 5 welders and a few laborers.  The shop is set up so that a single machinist can run two or three jobs at a time.

 

Newmont- Twin Creeks is going to get some lightweight beds for their trucks, run the total tire program as well as instituting a new culture at the mine.  They require all new hires to be tasked on overhead crane operation as well as attending a class on rigging.  The class is a 4-day class put on by a professional.

 

Chris from Cortez talked the training simulator he uses to train new hires as well as simulating emergencies.  By doing this it allows the operator to experience the actual fire, rock fall, engine shut down, etc.  Knowing ahead of time how to handle these types of situations could save lives and lessen equipment damage. He also spoke about the 9 new T282 Liebherr trucks Cortez is buying as well as the other new support equipment.  Cortez is putting into operation 1-24H Blade, 1-new water truck, 2- single Pass Drills and a rubber tire dozer.

Another subject that was brought up was a new dumping method that came from the Tar Sands.  While at the Large Tire User Group in Fort McMurray in June, Drive Bye Dumping was brought up.  Drive by dumping saves cycle times and averts the safety concern of backing into a berm.  Syncrude was the mine that started this, a revolutionary way to increase production, changing the traditional dumping method.

 

Newmont Gas Mechanic, He talked about the relocation of filter of filter sets to aid oilers.  He also spoke about the Harvard filtration system upgrade, which they can use, on all oils.  At this property the gas mechanics take care of the Bobcats and service trucks both gas and diesel.  All PM’s for pickups are based on a 3000-mile interval. Light plants are also the gas shops responsibility and the planning department supplies schedules and hours for all maintenance work.  To ensure all the pickups get a service on time he talked about penalties that may apply if the truck doesn’t show up.

 

Chris from Musselwhite, a Canadian mine talked about the Placer Dome program AMS.  A program to standardize maintenance practices and tracking as well as establishing KPI’s to monitor maintenance improvement.  Chris talked about the lack of communication in mining in general and how it needs to be improved. Scheduling and planning are also a big part of the maintenance program they want to improve.  He also spoke about the new computer program Placer is installing at the mine sites. (SAP) 

 

John from Cashman stated that their company was adding another technical person to the Reno Group.  They have also started using a master mechanic as a troubleshooter to aid in the quick diagnosis of machines with peculiar problems.  He also sated the rebuild shop in Reno was extremely busy and for all of us to expect some delays especially in the exchange program.

 

Coeur Rochester – They talked about being in a slow down phase as they had bottomed out the pit during the week of this meeting. They are going to lease a few new trucks for a short-term haul but they only have a two-year mine life.

 

Carlos Guzman from Cortez asked if anyone had ever replaced the ring gear on a D-Mag 285S?  A person from Newmont said they would look for a procedure and pass it on.  He also asked for recommendations for companies that jacked shovels as Cortez was doing the roller paths on the P&H 2800’s this winter.  Two names were offered (HAMM Machinists and Steve Veno out of Wyoming).

 

Bob Argo from Smith Detroit explained a bit about the MDEC system, the light weight pistons and new style turbos being made in Germany.  He also talked about the Boll system of oil filtration that Cortez is getting on the 20V engines in the new trucks.  There are no oil filters as it is a centrifugal system.  Bob also talked about using a grounding rod on the 20V so that any type of electrical current won’t affect bearing life. The last thing he offered was information about the 25000-hour engines at Cortez. The engines could run a little longer but the radiators and O-Rings seem to fatigue before the engine actually fails.

 

Bob Frayser talked about oil analysis and the new fuel skid.  Bob also noted that “Phoenix Hydraulics’” has had a management change and rebuilds are not running as long as before.  Bob talked about pre PM shovel inspections, having a maintenance buyer who is responsible for billing and part co-coordinating.  Bob also asked for the member’s thoughts on donating a plaque to the Morrodders club for best modification.  The members voted to make this donation as it an ongoing award.  The next item bob talked about was the questionnaire that he wants to send to all the mines on the association’s mailing list.  The comments were that the questionnaire need to be shortened and Bob agreed to do this.

9:15a.m. to 10:00a.m. Break

 

REPORT OUT TOPICS

NOTE – IF UNABLE TO ATTEND PLEASE SEND A REPLACEMENT PREPARED TO PRESENT YOUR PART

10:00a.m. to Noon Sharing Best Practices Presentations

Newmont gave a presentation on the new fuel skid they put into operation at Twin Creeks.  They can fuel 8 trucks at a time and it pumps at 250 GPM, approximately 4 minutes per truck.  Rather than parking ditches they chock all the equipment and even though they use the Wiggins system they are looking at the “Caster Fueling System”.  Another procedure they use is having the operator check all the fluid levels on the upper deck before dismounting the truck and report to the fueler if anything needs topped off.  The operators are also required to take their break at the fueling time in a trailer set up at the skid.

 

Bob Frayser gave an update on the sound deadening product search.  After searching the Web with very poor results only a 4*8 board type setup was found.  The problem area is air arching in shops and even the board system wouldn’t be effective as most shops are just too tall.  Another system that is being looked at is the low pressure cutting system.  The problem with this system seems to be the poor quality of cut that you get.  This item was tabled for now.

There is some work being done with lower air pressures and different “gun” designs in an effort to reduce noise. More to come from that study.  

o        Placer Dome Cortez – Two Piece Tire Update

Ellis gave an update on the Two Piece Tires (Good Year) being tested at Cortez.  The tire size is 4000R*57 and are running on the 830e fleet.  Cortez is still testing and even though we have lost a few tires during the test Good Year has made a few design changes and are standing behind their product.  It was stated that is a tire shortage and that it would be nice if we had another 63 inch tire manufacture. 

 

 

 

 

Newmont West – Cryogenics technology presentation – Bob Frayser 

 

Another presentation was given by Bob on Cryogenics.  The tempering tests didn’t turn out well as new iron without cryogenics ran better.  The process is expensive and at this time isn’t proven to be feasible. 

 

 

Noon to 1:00p.m. Lunch break (Provided by WSA)

Guest Speaker Ralph Siler Great Basin College

 

We broke for lunch and shortly after Ralf Siler gave a talk from the Great Basin College.  Ralf ran a video and handed out copies of the classes they offer and talked about the success of the program.  He said most of the students were placed before graduation.  Some of the members in the meeting who had hired a few of the graduates voiced their approval for the program and recommended it.

 

 

1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m. Sharing Best Practices Presentations

o        Newmont West – Bob Frayser

The next item we discussed was welding machines. Bob told everyone about a rebuild center in Salt Lake City who does excellent work and has great turn around time.  ARC Services was the company and Bill Sisson is the contact there.

The talk on LED strobe lights wasn’t too productive. Cortez is running the older model and it has not failed yet. Newmont is running some of the new style and don’t many units running and they have not failed any either. 

3:00p.m. to 3:15p.m. Break

 

3:15p.m. to 3:45p.m. General Meeting Review

What worked? What didn’t work? Suggested changes of formats, dates, locations, frequency, newsletter, etc. Selection of vendor for company/equipment updates.

Question - Did supplier’s mechanics participation meet expectations? Unanimous support for this participation

Question - Do we open the meeting to all mechanic and technical supplier personnel? Overwhelmingly YES!

3:45p.m. to 4:30p.m. Action Planning

Topic selection process for next WRMMA meeting study groups. 3W review.

 

Parking LOT:

1. Planning and scheduling at Cortez.

2. Low Pressure Air Arcing

3. Bring a best practice, one on anything and one on safety.

4. Metalaxe for welding

5. Marigold will give a report on the Bridgestone tires for their loader.

 

NO

What

Who

When

Comments

1

Hire a Stenographer for taking minutes at the next meeting

Ellis Ritz

June 23, 2004

Locate an individual and present quote to officers at next officers meeting June 23 at 1:00 pm Star Restaurant

2

Redesign Opening Slides for meeting & show to officers at next officers meeting

Mitch Geyer

June 23, 2004

Show slides to officers at officer’s meeting at the Star Restaurant June 23, 2004 at 1:00 pm

3

Each Site member to bring an operations person to the next meeting

All Sites

Nov 14, 2003

Typically one who interacts the most with maintenance personnel, i.e. Trainer, Coordinator, Dispatcher, etc.

4

Invite two mechanics form Cashman and Komatsu

Bob Frayser

July 16, 2004

Invite two mechanics from Cashman & Komatsu to sit in on the next meeting July 16.

5

 Secure a guest speaker for 30 minute session at the end of lunch

Bob Frayser, Mitch Geyer, Ellis Ritz

June 23, 2004

Have secured and confirmed by officer’s meeting June 23, 2004 at the Star Restaurant

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