Western Region
Of
Underground Master Mechanics
Place: Stockman’s
Hotel - City:
WRUMM Staff
Rick Cruea – Chairman
Dave Starbuck – Vice Chairman
Ben Lupercio – Secretary
Steve Volkert – Treasurer
The Chairman, Rick Cruea started out the meeting with introductions of the members. There were 13 members present for the meeting. Rick Cruea has taken a position in Materials Management and therefore does not fit as the Chairman of the Master Mechanics. As a result, the meeting started out with a discussion on finding a replacement for Rick. To help the group understand the roles of the officers, the officers gave a brief explanation of their roles. It was mentioned that in the past, the group has talked about a progression within the officer’s ranks. Some discussion was held on this topic and it was decided that a progression system for officers could require a person to devote too much time to this organization, it would take a person 8 years to work through the whole system. In the end, the group decided that we should just elect a new Chairman. The mines represented at this meeting was quite low, therefore the group decided to it would be better to defer finding a replacement for Chairman until the next meeting. In the mean time, we will send out an email to the association asking for nominees and we will elect a new Chairman at the next meeting. A separate email will be forth coming.
As for the attendance, it was noted that many mines are running shorthanded and it may be difficult for people to get away from the job sites to attend this meeting. The group suggested that we make an extra effort to invite the off duty mechanics to attend these meetings, not only to increase the membership, but also to get a first hand opinion of the things that are affecting the front line mechanics.
Business Report
Steve Volkert gave the group and update of our financial situation, we currently have $3,213 in our account. Steve also gave a brief explanation of how the money is spent to promote the group and some money is used to pay for the facilities we use to hold our meetings.
Nuts and Bolts Session
Wagner:
Atlas Copco is trying to get a grip on the parts problems that people are experiencing. Most mines are finding long lead times when requesting parts for this equipment. Axles are very specific to Atlas Copco/Wagner and this adds to the difficulty in getting parts for this equipment. Atlas Copco is willing to work with the mines on stocking parts in Elko if given some input and justification.
Along these lines, the group discussed that perhaps one mine alone can’t justify Atlas Copco to stock certain parts in Elko due to low usage. However, if all our mines were to help with the justification by the numbers of equipment in the area, perhaps it would be easier for Atlas Copco to stock the parts in Elko. As a result, the group again suggested we get an equipment list from all the mines in the area so that we can either help with the parts stocking justification or check with one another for parts we may need. There is an equipment list on our website, however the passwords to get to this section of the website are not working. Therefore, we are asking for the following people to submit an equipment list to Ben Lupercio and we will distribute the list at the next meeting.
Steve Volkert to submit Quenstake’s equipment list.
Ben Luperco to submit Barrick’s equipment list.
Rod Cymbaluk to submit Tamrock’s equipment list.
Dave Starbuck will as John Stellnar to submit Newmont’s equipment list.
We will ask Denny Stout to submit
We will ask Larry Fuchs to submit Greens Creek equipment list.
Dave Starbuck will ask SMD for their equipment list.
Dave Starbuck will ask Getchell for their equipment list.
Tractors:
The group again held a discussion on tractors. There is a wide opinion on tractors, some people are starting to use and RTV Kubota machine, however these should be used in selective areas with selective operators as the machines don’t have much ground clearance and could be damaged by rocks and water. It was the opinion of some in the group that these machines also emit a lot of pollution and could be a big contributor to our DPM issues.
Normet has recently developed a
new man carrier and will have it on display and the mine expo in
In an effort to get past this discussion, Tony Sanchez from Barrick will be sending out a questionnaire on tractors/man carriers. Tony will either make or submit a presentation at the next Master Mechanics meeting on this subject.
Equipment Washing:
The group asked the Barrick people if they feel the miners are neglecting the equipment washing as a result of having full time wash bay attendants. Generally speaking, this is not the case, Barrick not only has a wash bay attendant, but they also require operators to perform daily wash downs with a wash down procedure in place for most of the primary mining equipment.
Newmont has recently performed a weight study on their trucks at the request of the operations group. They found that the haul trucks are carrying around approximately ¼ of the load at all times. The material is getting stuck in the beds and nobody cleans them out, in effect, this is like loosing a load every fourth trip. This was quite an eye opener for Newmont and things have been put in place to clean out the beds regularly.
A question was asked of the group on what is being used to prevent backfill build up on the trucks that haul this material. Some people are using form oil and the group wanted to know what else can be done to prevent build up.
Again, in an effort to get past this topic, Bud Lauderback will be sending out a questionnaire on equipment washing. Bud will either make or submit a presentation at the next Master Mechanics meeting.
Tires:
Nothing new on this topic, the following notes are from the March meeting. Again, varying opinions on this topic.
It was suggested by one of the tire manufacture that storing tires at pressure is more safe than storing tires at 15 P.S.I. This particular manufacture felt that the locking ring position and seal can be compromised by not fully inflating the tire. Additionally, it was noted that most tire accidents happen while inflating or deflating tires and this is best performed by specifically trained personnel.
Accident Damage:
Queenstake has reported that they are using damage reports now and they feel they are starting to get control. The program is designed to take X% of the damage cost out of the production bonus if the damage is reported and 100% of the cost if the damage is not reported.
The group had suggested that collectively as maintenance people, we should work towards charging cost of equipment damage to operations and also removing downtime associated with equipment damage from our availability reports. Some discussion was held on this topic and it was decided that Dave Starbuck would send out a questionnaire to the Association for input.
Fall Restraint:
Some mines have installed a cable tie off in the wash bays to be in compliance with MSHA regulations. It was felt that if the tie off is provided and easy to use, it will be used.
Equipment Lubrication: - Comment from March Meeting
Some mines are installing oil filled pins on the boom and bucket end of loaders to compensate for the lack of lubrication from operators. This requires some modifications to the original pin bores, but has been very successful.
Update – oil filled pins and required machine work proved to be less than cost effective. Some people are using automatic lubrication systems with good success. However, the systems must be checked and kept in good working order. We can’t become complacent to the lubrication system after it has been installed.
Brake Life:
At our last meeting in March we talked about trying to improve brake life by using and inclinometer and the second throttle control on a DDEC engine. As an update to this subject, it was determined that this was not working as well as intended and engine brakes were installed to help with brake life. This creates a problem with noise compliance. After some discussion, it was decided that Steve Volkert would work on a study of brake life across the mine sites and then submit a presentation on his findings.
DPM & Noise:
Denny Stout has sent out questionnaires on this subject with little response. Please respond to the questionnaire as soon as possible so we can get a meaningful report out from Denny.
Meeting Schedule:
In an effort to give advance notice for these meetings, the officers for both the surface and underground Master Mechanics Association will be working on a meeting schedule for the year 2005.
The next meeting is scheduled for November 10 – 11 in
Winnemucca.
Meeting Format:
A discussion of the meeting format was held. The group felt that we continue to have the same conversations on the same subjects with little results. It was decided that we will ask the membership to suggest topics for presentations and make presentations at the meetings. We hope to gain some insight of the issues and move on to new subjects with this type of format. Given this new format, we will all be asked to submit information to various individuals so the presentations can be made. Please respond to these questionnaires as quickly as possible so the person making the presentation can offer more than one opinion.
Next Meeting Vendor List
We did not discuss vendors for the next meeting.
Vendor Presentations
Elphinstone – Ross Kelly – Caterpillar Engines
Ross Kelly talked to the group about Tier I, Tier II, Tier II and Tier IV engines which Caterpillar is working on. Ross talked about Caterpillars Advanced Combustion Emission Reduction Technology engines.
The ACERT engines are using advanced electronic fuel controls, new turbo charger technologies, in some cases EGR valves, variable valve actuation controlled electronically and some combustion chamber modifications. The fuel is injected into the cylinders by a series of injections per cycle as opposed to a single injection per cycle. This is resulting in lower noise levels.