WRUMM Staff Place: West Coast Hotel

Rod Cymbulak—Chairman City: Salt Lake City, Utah

Dave Starbuck—Vice Chairman

Gary Brouse—Secretary

Steve Volkert—Treasurer

The Chairman, Rod Cymbulak was unable to attend the meeting as the mine he works for is closing their doors in sixty days. The Vice-Chairman was also absent due to work requirements in Denver and he asked a past Chairman, Bob Peterson, to sit in for him. Bob opened the meeting with introductions of the members. After reviewing the minutes from the last meeting, old business was discussed. The new members of the group were updated on the Web site and passwords were issued for the site. There were 9 members present at the meeting.

• The group elected a new Chairman in Rod Cymbulak from Asarco.
• The group elected a new treasurer in Steve Volkert from AngloGold.
• The group decided to alternate the board positions to keep consistency within the board. The secretary position is now up for election. If you have someone in mind to nominate, have this information available for the March meeting.
• One of the main goals was to enhance the group by member recruiting. Each member was encouraged to bring in more people with fresh ideas and best practices.
• Another goal was to better utilize the Web site with questions and ideas that you can’t wait until the next meeting for help with.

• Many problems were solved during the year with the ideas from the members.

Steve Volkert reported on our financial status. Our current funds are at $3,500 but will decrease with the costs of the Salt Lake meeting being the most expensive. Based on the turn out at the Salt Lake meeting it doesn’t look like it was cost effective to have the meeting here? The group will have to decide if another attempt in Salt Lake would be worth it to get mines from Utah and Wyoming involved.

Greens Creek Mine reported that accident damage in their mine takes up 40% of their maintenance budget. It looks like all mines now measure or record accident damage in one form or another. Since reporting started at the mines the actual damage has gone down due to the awareness of the problems. Newmont now applies accident damage costs to the production bonus and AngloGold applies it to the supervisor’s production bonus.

Newmont reported operations are required to wash their equipment at least once during each shift. Greens Creek also has operations wash their own equipment when brought to the shop for problems like overheating. With this practice in place it has cut the mechanic time on washing in half, allowing more wrench time on the unit. It has also shown that the operator finds and sees different problems with his machine while he’s washing it.

The next discussion was on tires. The standard practice is to deflate the tire to 5-15 PSI to take the tire off and also to install it. Most of the mines feel this is not necessary, as a newly mounted tire is safer than actually deflating and then airing it up. They feel the main danger is due to possible cracked rim damage and that when the lug nuts are removed would allow the rim to split apart. The general agreement with the group is to deflate the tire if its removed for any reason but to leave it inflated on the rack since this tire and rim has been inspected by a qualified tireman. It’s felt that there is a higher presence of danger in deflating and then inflating a tire to be installed. Any input on this issue or practices you are doing at your mines and shops would be valued.

Operator awareness on the equipment is now being the focus for maintenance to minimize maintenance problems. Newmont requires each operator to attend a class on the machine they are running to refresh what they need to look for and address. AngloGold hired an outside source to re-train their operators. A mechanic at AngloGold recently brought a truck into the shop and could not believe how bad the articulation was. It would bang and clang ever time he stopped or started. The two problems here are why wasn’t the extent of wear determined at PM (by maintenance) and why didn’t the operator who drives this every day put anything on his or her inspection card. Operator awareness is a critical part of our maintenance process.

The next topic was on glass and different options to minimize noise. Greens Creek stated they have had some issues but have not been pushed as much by their MSHA representative. They are also running cabs on a lot of their equipment, which eliminates some concerns. On a Toro 450, Greens Creek put a cab on this unit and are very pleased with it. Newmont and AngloGold have tried numerous different tactics to include: covers over motors, covers over engine compartments and windshields on the jumbos and bolters. Anglo will be testing centralizer bushings made out of a type of plastic to reduce noise.

Auto lube pro and cons:

Cat used a Lincoln system on the Elphinstones and has had success. Greens Creek uses the Lincoln system on all their machines and have had little or no problems. Pin life has increased on all units. If you maintain the systems by checking the lines on PM’s ensuring injectors and reservoirs are secure and in good working order eliminate the problems. With the flushing of the pins on a continuous basis, you can use cheaper grease and set the system to lube every 5 minutes.

Newmont has implemented a 5 point audit system which requires the locking out of the master switch when maintenance is working on any piece of equipment. Greens Creek through their corporate policy also requires this. This is a good safety policy to follow to prevent accidents while maintenance is working on the equipment.

The use of electronic retarders called Telmas has saved brake costs at one mine. This unit works well on the teledumps but has some mounting problems on the end dumps. On end dumps it would have to be mounted on the differential. For information on these contact Smith DDA or Greens Creek Mine in Alaska.

Newmont tried an oil additive in an engine that had high iron and chrome in its oil sample. This is in its early test stage but it did reduce the iron on the next analysis. This additive did show good results in the Timken torque test. Use caution when using this, as some surfaces require a degree of wear to seal effectively. They will report next meeting on more long-term results.

8000 series transmission gaskets made of cork. As they develop leaks, the typical mechanic snugs them up. After a time the cork smashes out and the leak then requires replacement of the gasket. Clark was contacted to see if there is a replacement rubber type gasket, as cork seems to be old school. Clark’s stand is to use the cork. After the meeting Reed Smith from Smith DDA called me and gave us the following information. There is a thin paper gasket available part # 217311 for the 2 clutch pan and part #217309 for the 4 clutch pan. Some mines replaced the cork with different types of silicone. The type that seem to be preferred is a product called Wacker and it’s black and rubbery and most mechanics like it better than silicone. The part number for this product is #50545. Contact Smith DDA in Elko for more information.

DPM regulations are probably here to stay so we need to work together to come to the best solutions to reach the limits set. All mines are now required to use tags to let the operator notify maintenance on potential smoking problems. This seems to be already in place at the mines as of this meeting. Maintenance needs to be trained or qualified to perform engine work. With electronic engines tuned to specs, the next answer is soot filters or more ventilation. All engine manufactures have to have their engines certified under MSHA part 7. If you have a non-part 7 engine, you cannot service exchange this engine and put in into service at your mine. It’s also a good option to get your maintenance people certified by an engine manufacture on the tune ups of their engines to support MSHA’s training requirements. The manufacture should provide a certificate on this training. The group reviewed pictures on soot filter that self destroyed after just two months in service. This would be a very expensive proposition if this proves to be the case. Newmont is trying a new fuel additive, which results in improved emissions and improved fuel economy, this has been tested and verified by an independent tester. The company is called Pollution’s Solutions and their phone number is (775) 351-1997 out of Reno Nevada. Initial test is very positive, worth looking at.

Oil vendor

Atlas Copco

Filter manufacturer

Radiator Company

Thelma

Ford tractors

Jackleg Drill Company

Reliability Centered Maintenance Speaker

John Deer.

Smith DDA on the Mercedes Engine

Bucket rebuilds are their primary workload. They employ 60 people and have been in business since 1965 and started doing buckets in 1980. They also do other welding projects to include liners, shoots and feeds. Their main focus is repairing your buckets on a cost per ton basis. They recommend that all mines put their fleet on a monitoring program to track cost and wear. You should select the proper wear materials to protect the bucket while watching the weight. You should know your bucket costs, make sure they are in line with your budgeted costs. Set benchmarks for your key components and track for improvement. Train your people about buckets. Know the key areas of the bucket that drives the costs, lip, heels and bores. Ramp operation is going to have different cost drivers than a shaft operation. Look at all of them. Use components that will reduce costs to include welding, arc airing and hammering. Don’t just focus on the bucket look at the logistics, what impact does the bucket have on your operations, to include manpower welders and mechanics, down time etc. Their standard lip is the Esco Delta V2 12S cast lip at Inco Mine in Sudbury. Average life is 120,000 to 170,00 tons. Heel area is an area of concern for wear on buckets due to impacting and drag. Their latest design is a bolt-together bucket that a lip and bottom assembly can be bolted together in approximately six hours. They are working on the buckets for ejection type machines. They have available a bucket tracking software to assist in tracking the bucket wear. They can be contacted at C.S.I. 190 Magill St. Walden Ind. Park, Sudbury, Ont. Canada. P3Y1K7 or call them at (705) 692-4784

Peltosalmen started the company in Finland in 1962. In 1971 Orion bought Normet and this gave the company money to do more R&D work. In 1999 it was bought by the managers and now stands alone. Net sales were approximately 325 million in 2001. They employ 350 in the factory and sales around the world. They build about 250 mining utility type vehicles per year. (Primarily Shot Crete Vehicles) All vehicles are manufactured against existing orders. They build units in series to minimize costs. They look for outsourcing of frames and steelwork to put key components in the hands of sub suppliers who are good at what they do. They average 6-12 weeks from order to put the machine out the door. This is without any customization to the units. Cassette systems have been pioneered by Normet to mount scissors lifts, remix trucks, flatbeds, crane, and shot crete modules. They have an ample supply of parts totaling $2.5 million dollars.

Has been in service since 1957 and designed their own equipment. It’s a family operated business and still continues as such. They employ about 25 people at the current time. Being able to customize and work with the customers has allowed Young’s to continue to manufacture machines. They have produced up to 150 machines in some years. All of their equipment is made with Duetz engines and funk transmissions ranging up to a 17-ton machine. A new type of suspension system is being designed using a marshmallow developed by Firestone to replace the leaf springs currently being used. They keep the machines simple and maintenance friendly to minimize down time. Types of machines are personal carriers, lube trucks; scissor lifts on Kubota's, dump trucks. They have been a Duetz head rebuild center for approximately ten years. In their Montacello shop they custom rebuild all forms of mining machinery. They are a Kubota dealer and build personal carriers for the Kubota’s.

The underground group sat in with the surface during the next session to hear a safety presentation by Barrick Goldstrike’s surface personnel. Good improvements have been made through the use of safety teams, which include hourly personnel. A major key to the talk was, if you see a hazard fix it and don’t leave it for someone else. It’s easy to walk into the supervisor’s office and state there’s a vehicle outside not chocked. The correct procedure on all safety issues is to chock or fix the problem if your able and then report the incident to your supervisor and let him do his investigation on why it happened. One incentive program they use to motivate safety awareness is putting an employee’s name in a drawing each time he or she is seen doing an act of safety. Most mines had some form of incentive programs.

As a combined group we discussed what went well during the conference and what didn’t. The cost of putting on the conference in Salt Lake compared to the turnout was discussed. This affected the underground the most as we had our lowest turnout since we started the association. Kennecott offered the use of their training facility if we would like to try Salt Lake again to minimize costs. Some mines felt there should be fewer topics so more details could be put into the remaining. Everyone thought the discussion for the most part was beneficial. The last major issue was how much vendor participation should we allow at our maintenance meeting and what the vendors want for the costs they incur. It was evident that the two groups have different levels of vendor participation and both were happy with the amount they have. It was decided the vendors, surface and underground boards would get together and decide the direction we would go. More details will be passed on after the meeting takes place.

After the meeting adjourned on Friday both groups toured Rocky Mountain Machine Shop to get a better understanding of what they can do for our industry. We would like to thank Bruce Ward and Rocky Mountain Machine for their hospitality.