Guidelines on Reducing Cumulative Mining Expenses
The financial rewards linked to mining operations are significant for businesses with the right resources. Unfortunately, the potential profits can be lower than expected due to the high expenses associated with initial investment. These costs can be in form of the required mining equipment, the human labour force and transportation. If you are preparing for a mining operation for the first time, it is critical to consider and analyse these aspects. This will help you identify the ideal areas to reduce the monetary input in order to increase the profit margin. Here are simple guidelines to help you with cost reduction in any general mining operation.
Control Energy Usage
The energy demands in mining set-ups are high, and this will contribute to higher operational costs. Generally, the main sources of energy in these operations are electricity and fuel. These are responsible for powering the mining and initial processing equipment. You should consider engaging an energy efficiency auditor to assess your mining set-up to look for areas of energy wastage. The experts will examine the type of equipment used, whether they are rental or company owned.
Modern machines are designed for optimal consumption of fuel, but you should ask your energy expert for recommendations. In addition, you should also remember that used and rental machines are cheaper, but the long-term energy expenses will offset the savings. There are also human inefficiencies which can contribute to indirect energy losses. You should encourage the workers during initial to embrace energy awareness through practices such as switching off mining machinery, reporting malfunctions immediately and using the equipment as recommended.
Optimise Maintenance Practices
Maintenance of operational equipment is essential in ensuring that the tasks are performed efficiently. Moreover, you will save money through servicing by preventing failure of the machines and subsequent costly repairs. On the other hand, if your maintenance practices are not optimally planned, you will decrease your potential profits through downtime. It is advisable to have an established maintenance routine for your mining equipment to limit this detriment. Basically, you should schedule servicing when the equipment is not required for heavy usage to limit unnecessary idleness.
Improve Logistics
The improvement of the logistics of a mining operation can contribute to the reduction of expenses. You can choose to engage an external carrier or acquire your own trucks for the transportation. The right financial choice will depend on factors such as distance, potential project duration and your business capital. In addition, you should consider engaging an independent expert for inventory management, procurement tasks and efficient transportation scheduling.
For more information on mining services, contact a company like Arrow Electrical Services.