2
ramp-up to evaluate typical projects performances. Their
study showed that while target recovery and grades are
generally reached on time (within 6 months), attaining
steady-state design capacity takes much longer (on average,
2.5 years). According to their findings, only 30% of new
mines achieve design capacity within a year, while 10% are
still struggling after four years. This performance is worri-
some, especially since numerous gold projects have mine
life shorter than 10 years.
The issue of ramp-up pace has been discussed widely
(McNulty, 2014, Mackay and Nesset, 2003, Nice, 2003),
and awareness is growing. McNulty’s curve is, for instance,
used as a benchmark against which to ramp up progress.
Still, Nice (2003) commented that “…we in industry do
not appear to have learned much from history…” and
stated although technology, knowledge and design have
improved, mining projects fail for the same reasons that
caused them to fail during the 1960s. Twenty years later,
this is unfortunately still the case.
The first section of this paper focuses on the impor-
tance of building the right team with the right set of skills
and competencies. Then, a general framework introduced
by Berton et al. (2016) is presented. A high- level overview
of the start-ups Soutex was involved with provides examples
of applied projects, highlighting key lessons, best practices,
and common pitfalls to avoid during the start-up phase.
The potential impacts related to design, process risks,
technology, safety margins, and construction/purchasing
decisions aimed at reducing CAPEX, factors that may
influence the ramp-up pace, are not addressed in this paper.
KEY TO SUCCESS: BUILDING THE
RIGHT TEAM
A common mistake in planning the start-up of a mineral
processing plant is underestimating the human resources
requirements for the initial phase and assuming that the
skill set needed will be similar to that of a regular operating
crew. Figure 1 shows a typical sequence for hiring operating
personnel in a new mining operation.
About six months before feeding ore for the first time
to the plant (denoted as –6 on the time scale), only upper
management has basically been hired. From that point,
there is a phased recruitment of supervisors, operators, and
maintenance crew, culminating in full staffing by the time
of commissioning (marked as 0 on the time scale).
When start-up begins, the operating crew is fully staffed
by headcount but has not yet reached its full operational
capacity. In Figure 1, the orange curve represents the crew’s
increasing capacity as the operators gain familiarity with
the process. Hiring personnel earlier allows for more thor-
ough training, which enhances the operating crew’s effec-
tiveness at start-up. Nonetheless, achieving full readiness at
start-up is challenging complete process understanding is
only attained through actual operation.
During the initial month following the introduc-
tion of ore into the mill, there is a significant demand for
Figure 1. Sequence of operating personnel hiring and corresponding in-house human
resources capacity vs start-up requirements
ramp-up to evaluate typical projects performances. Their
study showed that while target recovery and grades are
generally reached on time (within 6 months), attaining
steady-state design capacity takes much longer (on average,
2.5 years). According to their findings, only 30% of new
mines achieve design capacity within a year, while 10% are
still struggling after four years. This performance is worri-
some, especially since numerous gold projects have mine
life shorter than 10 years.
The issue of ramp-up pace has been discussed widely
(McNulty, 2014, Mackay and Nesset, 2003, Nice, 2003),
and awareness is growing. McNulty’s curve is, for instance,
used as a benchmark against which to ramp up progress.
Still, Nice (2003) commented that “…we in industry do
not appear to have learned much from history…” and
stated although technology, knowledge and design have
improved, mining projects fail for the same reasons that
caused them to fail during the 1960s. Twenty years later,
this is unfortunately still the case.
The first section of this paper focuses on the impor-
tance of building the right team with the right set of skills
and competencies. Then, a general framework introduced
by Berton et al. (2016) is presented. A high- level overview
of the start-ups Soutex was involved with provides examples
of applied projects, highlighting key lessons, best practices,
and common pitfalls to avoid during the start-up phase.
The potential impacts related to design, process risks,
technology, safety margins, and construction/purchasing
decisions aimed at reducing CAPEX, factors that may
influence the ramp-up pace, are not addressed in this paper.
KEY TO SUCCESS: BUILDING THE
RIGHT TEAM
A common mistake in planning the start-up of a mineral
processing plant is underestimating the human resources
requirements for the initial phase and assuming that the
skill set needed will be similar to that of a regular operating
crew. Figure 1 shows a typical sequence for hiring operating
personnel in a new mining operation.
About six months before feeding ore for the first time
to the plant (denoted as –6 on the time scale), only upper
management has basically been hired. From that point,
there is a phased recruitment of supervisors, operators, and
maintenance crew, culminating in full staffing by the time
of commissioning (marked as 0 on the time scale).
When start-up begins, the operating crew is fully staffed
by headcount but has not yet reached its full operational
capacity. In Figure 1, the orange curve represents the crew’s
increasing capacity as the operators gain familiarity with
the process. Hiring personnel earlier allows for more thor-
ough training, which enhances the operating crew’s effec-
tiveness at start-up. Nonetheless, achieving full readiness at
start-up is challenging complete process understanding is
only attained through actual operation.
During the initial month following the introduc-
tion of ore into the mill, there is a significant demand for
Figure 1. Sequence of operating personnel hiring and corresponding in-house human
resources capacity vs start-up requirements