Dash dodges weeks of downtime: plug-and-play dashboard cheap and easy to install.Kirkland Lake-They say the cream always rises to the top. But at Newmont Mining Newmont Mining Corporation NYSE: NEM, based in Denver, Colorado, USA, is one of the world's largest producers of gold, with active mines in, Nevada, Indonesia, Australia/New Zealand, Ghana, and Peru. Some smaller operations include Bolivia, Mexico, and Canada. Corp.'s Holloway Gold Mine site, 60 kilometres north of Kirkland Lake Kirkland Lake, mining town, E Ont., Canada. An important gold-mining center, gold was discovered there in 1911 and again in the 1980s at Harker. The mining of iron ore and tourism are two other important industries. , success is measured several thousand metres below surface. Steve Sullivan Steve Sullivan (born July 6, 1974 in Timmins, Ontario, Canada) is a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League and has played for the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. is a first-class trouble shooting mechanic who has been with the company for 10 years. He maintains underground load haul dump equipment, drills and scissor scissor pertaining to scissors; like scissors in effect. scissor bite see scissor bite. scissor mouth a narrow space between the rami of the mandible so that the molar arcades do not meet. lifts. Sullivan has developed a way to reduce costs and maybe even save lives by developing a "plug-and-play dash," which can be inserted into an underground vehicle's dashboard. When a machine is laid up, it usually costs the company $5,000 an hour in lest revenues. In some cases, the bill lands somewhere around $200,000. The supplier usually has to send a representative who then often has to order parts. That can take weeks. The plug-and-play dash takes about $8,000 and 20 minutes to install. The idea came when Sullivan was asked to upgrade the electrical wiring Electrical wiring in general refers to insulated conductors used to carry electricity, and associated devices. This article describes general aspects of electrical wiring as used to provide power in buildings and structures, commonly referred to as building wiring. panel of the Holloway mine's mobile equipment. He soon realized it would not be an easy project, requiring far more work than projected. The end result was an electrical dashboard that reroutes all the wiring into one main panel. "It is similar to the dash in your car," Sullivan says. When the system mal-functions or becomes damaged, it is now a matter of replacing the main panel instead of trying to identify a specific problem, which costs time and money. The original system on the mobile equipment was labour-intensive and susceptible to damage, especially when workers were manipulating the machine by remote control to the stope stope n. An excavation in the form of steps made by the mining of ore from steeply inclined or vertical veins. tr.v. stoped, stop·ing, stopes To remove (ore) from or mine by means of a stope. areas, Sullivan says. The panel may also be practical for the forestry sector, since both industries experience the same downtime loss from mobile equipment. If an employee can come in and literally pop in a fresh panel and get back to work, the company is making money again, he says. Newmont employees do not care to commercialize the innovation. They prefer to share the knowledge with other mines and industrial operations so safety can be improved. Sullivan is nominated for Newmont's Chairman's Award for the innovative ideas and extraordinary efforts that went into making the plug-and-play dash. Not only is the console cost-effective, it could also save lives. Statistics show 22 percent of fatalities and serious accidents in Ontario mines are caused by mobile equipment. Further, two-thirds of all underground fires are caused by mobile equipment, according to the Mines and Aggregates Safety Health Association (MASHA MASHA Mines and Aggregates Safety and Health Association ) website. "A fire underground is far more serious than anything on surface," the site says. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A severe fire could shut down the mine for weeks and cause serious injuries to workers via smoke inhalation Smoke Inhalation Definition Smoke inhalation is breathing in the harmful gases, vapors, and particulate matter contained in smoke. Description Smoke inhalation typically occurs in victims or firefighters caught in structural fires. . Therefore, if there is a way to reduce the chances of fire or eliminate it altogether, it is a big gain for workers and employers, Sullivan says. www.newmont.com By KELLY LOUISEIZE Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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