Digital transformation at the mines of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP

The project team of the Quality Development Department of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP is implementing the project “Replication of the personnel and transport positioning system at the mines of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP (hereinafter referred to as RPTPS)” and completed the pilot project “Implementation of a mining production management system at mine No 67” (hereinafter referred to as IMPMS at the 67th mine).

“The implementation of a personnel and transport positioning system was initiated in the period from 2017-2018, in pursuance of Legislative requirements (Clause No. 54 “Rules for ensuring industrial safety for hazardous production facilities conducting mining and geological exploration” regulates the need for a surveillance system, notification of accidents, positioning and search for personnel in mines) and was successfully completed in 2019 at the No. 67 shaft of the «Zapadniy» mine. Technical solutions for the personnel and transport positioning system are built on the basis of the existing underground radio communication infrastructure, which was implemented in the period from 2013 to 2017 at the mines of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP. In 2021, the management of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP decided to replicate the project at the «Zhomart», «VZhR», «YuZhR», «Zapadniy», «Nurkazgan», «Abyz», «Sayak», «Shatyrkul» mines and the "Eastern Sary-Oba". As part of the implementation of the RPTPS project, through the efforts of specialists from the project team, the Digitalization Service of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP and the contractor «MRS-K» LLP and AGtech LLP has digitized the workings of shafts and mines, implemented digital technologies that allow online determination of the location of personnel and vehicles, sending an emergency alert to all mine workers or an individual call to a specific employee to communicate with the dispatcher, and receiving data from readers installed along the route of movement of people and equipment, by the quality of the underground radio communication signal, the presence of electricity and the level of electrical voltage in the mining areas,” said the specialists of the project team Andrey Kan, Raimbekov Bekzat, Iskakov Zhaslan, Muratuly Bekmurat, Sadenov Ayan, Nauryzbaev Ualikhan and Smailov Almat.

"The implementation of the pilot project "VSUGP at Mine 67" has an evolutionary stage of development in Kazakhmys Corporation LLP, due to the need for consistent adaptation of manufacture personnel to the implemented technologies of underground radio communications, personnel positioning systems and transport. As part of the implementation of the project "VSUGP at Mine 67", in addition to the module "Positioning of personnel and transport", the DMMS (Digital Monitoring & Management System) system was developed and the modules "Electronic work task", "Monitoring of the work of the Mining Equipment", "Dispatching", "Safe workplace", "Performance assessment", "Events" and "Data collection and storage" were added. The functionality of the above modules and the DMMS system was built according to the Deming cycle (plan-execute-check-act), based on the philosophy of lean manufacturing. The specialists of the project team and the contractor MRS-K LLP and AGtech LLP did a lot of work, where the following were automated and digitized:

• schedule of mining operations;
• the business process of issuing and closing an electronic work task, assessing the workplace, receiving and transferring mining equipment (hereinafter referred to as the ME) with the ability to photograph downtime and deviations using mobile devices;
• data on the dynamics of mining operations on the main technological processes (extraction, blasting, haulage, fastening, decontamination, sinking) with the ability to view the work of sites and ME in fixed areas;
• the process of movement of the material flow: starting from ore passes and ending with the skip-cage lifting of ore with the display of quantitative and qualitative indicators of the mined ore;
• technical inspection and repair schedule, schedule of behavioral audit and control and preventive work on occupational health and safety with a display of the actual state of the activities performed with photographic fixation and the planned event in the electronic calendar
• key performance indicators for the main technological areas;
• various events occurring at the mine that require attention and timely elimination to improve production efficiency and labour discipline.

"Nowadays, I want to note that Digitalization is a requirement of the time. Such changes will affect every company, as everything is changing, improving, and is being supplemented. If we resist this, we will remain on the sidelines of the civilized world. Due to the introduction of digital technologies and digital transformation, the business processes, business models and corporate culture of a company are being improved.  Based on this, the DMMS system will also be supplemented and expanded functionally, taking into account the requirements of production personnel. Now, the project team and the Digitalization Service of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP are faced with the task of introducing an electronic digital signature when issuing an electronic work task, which will ultimately lead to a reduction in the use of paper media (natural resources)  and this, although small, will still be a step on our part within the implementation of the ESG strategy aimed primarily at combating climate change," said Kanafin Rustem, project manager.

"First of all, the safety of our employees and the elimination of extreme risk are important to me, this is the fulfillment of the Legislative requirements in the field of industrial safety, which causes the suspension of production activities. Due to the efforts of the project team, this risk was removed at mine No. 57 and «Annenskaya» of the «Vostochno-Zhezkazganskiy» mine, and it is planned to be removed at mine No. 55, after the implementing of the personnel and transport positioning system.Now, the personnel and transport positioning system is used in the daily work of the dispatchers of mine No. 57 and Annenskaya, where just recently the incident of the late exit of two workers from the mine was analyzed. Taking into account the investigation of this incident with the help of the personnel and transport positioning system, I want to tell our miners that they can now feel much safer, because if the employee does not go to the mountain (surface) after completion of the shift, there may be various reasons (for example, deterioration of health), the dispatcher will know the last point of his location, which will facilitate the efficiency of his search and rescue," said Darkhan Bolatovich Abdikasov, chief engineer of the «Vostochno-Zhezkazganskiy» mine.

"In my daily work, before the operation, I consider the module "Performance Assessment", where information on the implementation of planned indicators is available to me, from site managers to operators of self-propelled equipment, I also consider downtime and events that occurred during the shift and day in the DMMS system. For my part, I would like to note that thanks to the implementation of the DMMS system and the use of this system in everyday work, the digital maturity of the production personnel of the «Zapadniy» mine is increasing and there are already additional requirements from production personnel to expand the functionality of the DMMS system with analytical reports for the rational use of mine resources," said Acting Director of the «Zapadniy» mine Ospanov Yerlan Seisenovich.

"We have been using the products of the project IMPMS at Mine 67 since November 2022. To date, the production personnel of mine No. 67 are being adapted to the functionality of the DMMS system. The issuance of an electronic work task in the DMMS system takes about ±5 minutes, where ready-made directories of workplaces, operations, employees and assigned equipment, and in the journal, the issuance of a work task takes more than 30 minutes, since it is necessary to fill in all these data.​​​​​​​Also, with the heads of other sections in the DMMS system, we are considering the module "Performance Assessment", where you can see the leaders who are going with the implementation of the plan, and this already creates an atmosphere of competition in the team," said the head of production site No. 4 Zhalgasbayev Zhasulan Zhandosuly and the deputy head of production site No. 4 Sarbala Ruslan Serikuly.

"Of course, it is difficult to maintain the products of the RPTPS and IMPMS project at Mine 67 in an aggressive environment and underground mine workings. To date, during the implementation of the project,RPTPS an order was initiated and issued on the responsibility of engineers for the safety of the radio-emitting cable and line equipment in the assigned areas of mine workings. Due to these measures and support from the management of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP, cases of vandalism were minimized.  In daily work, we use the "Infrastructure" module, where the status of the operation of the linear equipment of the underground radio communication system, positioning of personnel and transport, emergency alerts and Wi-Fi points with reference to the installation site at the mine workings and the "Events" module is displayed in the "online" mode, where timely messages are received about the possible failure of line equipment or cable damage. When these events occur, we send specialists to find the reasons for the inoperability or attenuation of the signal in the relevant mountainous areas, which facilitates the search and reduces the time to identify damaged sections of the radio-emitting cable and faulty equipment," said the head of the communication section No. 67 of the «Zapadniy» mine Seyilbek mine Adilkhan Muratuly and the head of the communication section of the «Vostocho-Zhezkazganskiy» mine Zhunisbek Gabiden Anasuly.

Detailed information about the DMMS system and its modules is published on the https://dmms.kz website.

Source: http://www.kazakhmys.kz

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