LOAD & HAUL
measurement of the overall capacity of a truck to move a certain amount of ore over a certain distance and a strong indicator of a mine’s overall productivity. “T ese trucks are only costing us
AU$35 per hour to operate and we’re getting astonishing TKMs,” Bolton says. “We’re averaging between 120,000 and 140,000 TKMs per month. We recently got 143,000 TKMs out of one truck. We couldn’t ask for any more than that.”
With the impressive TKM statistics come monthly operating hour marks as high as 550 hours – above average for a contractor and virtually unheard of for an owner-miner such as Northern Star.
Paid to produce Nobody depends on the productivity of the new fl eet more than operators such as Andrew Best. Northern Star’s miners don’t receive a salary for showing up or a bonus for exceeding production targets. T ey’re paid for the rock they
drill, load and haul, creating a culture of ownership. Fundamental to the company’s
effi ciency at Plutonic and its other mines is this in-house mining services division, which harnesses the cost conscious mentality of a contractor, but without any margin. “We call it the ‘we are here to
work’ model,” Jones says. “T e opportunity and fl exibility that comes with controlling your own costs is empowering. T ere is a constant focus
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