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Mining4Beer Event at PDAC2024 Convention

PTAG is pleased to be a Sponsor for the Mining4Beer event during the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2024 at the Craft Beer Market Toronto on Sunday, March 3, 2024.

Mining4Beer is an event to bring the mining community together. Join us to discover how PTAG’s Project Advisors assist the mining industry in delivering successful projects.

PTAG’s Michael Dubreuil, Andrew Grant, Shannon Sahota, Chris Deidun, Stephanie Gonnet, Feroz Ashraf and Elnaz Khaleghi are looking forward to meeting you there. Let’s have a beer and talk about mining projects!

Please feel free to reach out to us to chat.

The World’s Premier Mineral Exploration & Mining Convention (PDAC2024)

PDAC 2024 stands as the pinnacle gathering for individuals, enterprises, and entities vested in mineral exploration. This premier event, held in Toronto, Canada, annually garners acclaim for its educational initiatives, networking platforms, business prospects, and enjoyable experiences, drawing up to 30,000 participants from over 130 nations.

Since its inception in 1932, the convention has expanded significantly in scale, reputation, and impact, emerging as the preferred global forum for the mineral industry, boasting over 1,100 exhibitors and 700 speakers.

The PTAG team (Andrew Grant, Chris Deidun and Feroz Ashraf) will be participating in the World’s Premier Mineral Exploration & Mining Convention (PDAC2024) , March 3-6, 2024 in Toronto.

We are open to discussing potential collaborations, sharing insights, or simply enjoying a friendly conversation.

Let’s seize this opportunity to reconnect, build new bridges, and expand our knowledge together.

Webinar Recap –Digital Transformation: Automating Field Reporting & Progressing– September 20 at CIM MEMO 2022

Digital Transformation: Automating Field Reporting & Progressing

Listen in to this video recap as PTAG industry thought leaders, Feroz Ashraf, and Bob Brown, discuss Digital Transformation, Automating, Field Reporting & Progressing.

This is the recap video of the session presented in Sudbury at the CIM | Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (MEMO 2022) on September 20, 2022.

The global pandemic has created a challenge to measure and record progress at mining construction sites. In particular, remote mining sites have been hard hit. This is due to physical restrictions and constraints at the site to limit the number of workers or staff compounded by testing and vaccination requirements and administration, “social distancing” and PPE requirements, and minimization of physical interactions and face-to-face meetings. The mining industry is challenged by travel restrictions, fluctuating commodity prices, and supply/demand and delivery issues accentuated by the pandemic.

It is evident from global responses to date that companies with high digital maturity and utilization have done significantly better than others who have relied on manual or semi-manual systems. There is a serious need within the industry to rethink and re-invent to improve productivity and resulting performance. An easy solution is to set up an “integrated” digital system that will capture the project data and provide reliable and real-time data on the project’s performance. Typically, contractors provide weekly updates, and it takes another week to consolidate and integrate the data.

This presentation discusses how leveraging current technology and industry best practices will lead to faster, better-informed decision-making and project performance improvement. Results of case studies presented and show how to address data collection at multiple levels at the work site using hand-held portable devices to provide meaningful insights, productivity measurements, and multiple shift data, mitigating COVID-19 impacts and reducing rework and change orders.

 In summary, the presentation presents simple steps to implement such solutions and how owners can leverage easy-to-implement technology and best practices to provide faster decision-making and project performance improvement.

CIM Conference for Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability/Mine Operators (MEMO 2022) in Sudbury

Attend PTAG‘s Digital Transformation presentation on Automating Field Reporting and Progressing at the CIM conference for Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability/Mine Operators (MEMO 2022) with PTAG‘s industry thought leaders Feroz Ashraf and Bob Brown.

  We look forward to seeing you there! 

Video Recap – Canadian Institute of Mining’s CIM Virtual Convention 2021, May 3rd: The Importance of Front-End Planning and Leveraging Industry Best Practices to Minimize Project Risk

Watch this video recap, as Feroz Ashraf, PTAG’s Executive Advisor for Capital Projects, presents this direct and to the point session providing practical and validated examples on “The Importance of Front-End Planning and Leveraging Industry Best Practices to Minimize Project Risk” at CIM 2021.

This is the video recording of the presentation which was originally presented at the Canadian Institute of Mining’s Annual Virtual Convention CIM 2021 on May 3rd, 2021.

Globally, including North America, most capital and sustaining projects have been impacted by COVID and resulting economic slowdown. Projects are also experiencing significant productivity impacts due to the new normal COVID working conditions, as well as increasing emphasis on safety, security, and regulatory compliance.

Due to budget cuts, project and construction teams have been reduced by 30% or more. Across the board, our industry is also seeing increases in material and equipment costs due to COVID with commodity price volatility and supply/demand uncertainty presenting additional challenges.

To mitigate these issues the project team must further increase the use of the Front-End Planning process, deploy industry best practices, conduct extensive value engineering exercises, as well as thorough internal and external risk assessment process. In doing so, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) has established through its industry research that a significant saving can be achieved and gain in productivity:

Interested in downloading the slide deck? Click here for Direct Download.

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Find out more about the event here: The Experience (cim.org)

Get to know our speakers:

Video Recap – Canadian Institute of Mining’s CIM Virtual Convention 2021, May 3rd: How to Plan and Execute Capital Projects in Volatile and Uncertain Times

Watch this video recap, as Feroz Ashraf, PTAG’s Executive Advisor for Capital Projects, presents this direct and to-the-point session on “How to Plan and Execute Capital Projects in Volatile and Uncertain Times” at CIM 2021.

This is the recap video recording of the presentation which was originally presented at the Canadian Institute of Mining’s Annual Virtual Convention CIM 2021 on May 3rd, 2021.

Globally, including North America, most capital and sustaining projects have been impacted by COVID-19 and the resulting economic slowdown. Projects are also experiencing significant productivity impacts due to the new normal COVID working conditions, as well as increasing emphasis on safety, security, and regulatory compliance.

The presentation focuses on below key areas:

Interested in downloading the slide deck? Click here for Direct Download.

[3d-flip-book id=”1413″ ][/3d-flip-book]

Find out more about the event here: The Experience (cim.org)

Get to know our speakers:

Canadian Institute of Mining Annual Virtual Convention CIM 2021

PTAG’s, Feroz Ashraf has been invited by Canadian Institute of Mining to present at their upcoming May 3rd virtual annual convention CIM 2021 on two topics: “The Importance of Front-End Planning and Leveraging Industry Best Practices to Minimize Project Risk” and “How to Plan and Execute Capital Projects in Volatile and Uncertain Times.”

Feroz will walk you through a direct and to-the-point presentation providing practical step-by-step approaches and validated examples. You will get a chance to engage with Feroz in the post-presentation Q&A session and to network with him at this virtual convention. This four-day event will have many thought leaders and keynote speakers presenting CIM community’s best content.

The presentations will focus on below key areas:

  • Challenges faced by the Mining Industry during Covid-19 and in general.
  • Top reasons why projects go off-track.
  • Front-End Planning – what, why, how? and Leveraging Industry Best Practices.
  • Rigorous staged-gate process to minimize project risks.
  • Learn how and when to use Construction Industry Institute (CII) Front-End Planning tools, such as the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) to determine the “state of readiness” and “maturity level” of your project to assure better outcomes.
  • Review how to assess the Project Complexity Index and Maturity Levels– and to adapt the Execution Plan accordingly to optimize the contracting strategy and minimize execution risk.
  • Determine why Initial Project Set-up and a focussed List of Deliverables are important for team alignment.
  • Review why consistent Project Controls and Risk Analysis methodology is critical.
  • Learn how a simplified, interactive Project Management & Project Controls Handbook – is a key to Project Management and Delivery Success.
  • Look into Integrated Project Management Structure and Systems – I2PD for enhanced risk-sharing and collaboration.
  • Understand why an Integrated Project Execution Plan (IPEP) is a roadmap to success.

Find out more about the event here: The Experience (cim.org)

Outage Improvement Program on Mining Project

Overview 

Company – Iron Ore Client 

Industry – Mining – and Pellet Preparation 

Category – Shutdown Planning and Construction 

Project Budget – $35 million 

Goal – Improved Detailed Planning, Shutdown Preparation, Outage Management, and Construction Productivity while meeting all safety requirements. 

Obstacles – Brown field site, Old plant, Machine Rebuild in a tight fifty-seven-day shutdown (with 3 rounds the clock shifts) with Commissioning going on simultaneously while constructions continues. 

Solutions – Subject Matter Expert assigned, assessed, and developed a compliant PCO processes, procedures, and supporting software. Additional staff assigned for implementation, administration, and transition for long-term support. 

Results – Project Completed on time and budget vs 30% cost over-run and 2 weeks of delay costing the company significant lost production. Safety was good with no lost time. 

Goals 

To complete the Machine Rebuild within budget and time with no safety incidents 

  • Carry out the Outage for Machine Rebuild in a safe environment and to ensure start-up and operation after 57 days of shutdown.  
  • Improve site communication on a shift by shift basis 
  • Improve timely decision making  
  • Ensure Materials and Spares availability to avoid schedule slippage risk. 
  • Improve contractor performance 
  • Implement Lessons Learned procedures to ensure continuous improvement on future Outages 

Obstacles

Management of Change and Implementation of Best Practices and Lessons Learned to Achieve the goals of the project 

  • Tight brown field site, with complex work processes 
  • Lots of vertical construction, pre-com, and commissioning starting within a week of shutdown.  All while the machine rebuild, and other modifications were under construction 
  • Revised processes and procedures required to mitigate risk and  achieve safety compliance that would require a culture change across the site 
  • Over 200 workers at site in tight conditions working three shifts 24/7 
  • Historic Project Execution planning practices 

Solution

Developed and Implemented streamed lined processes for Project Controls and Contracts Admin Program to minimize and correct for Outage delays on a shift by shift basis to eliminate Outage schedule delays and cost overruns 

PTAG’s Advisory Team was engaged in May 2017 to provide a complete assessment of past Outage programs to determine gaps and the develop improvements to achieve more reliable and certain cost and schedule outcomes. The team developed an improved execution plan with real-time project controls to execute the project on budget and time with no lost time accidents. 

The Team developed and implemented the PCO processes and procedure (see slide 6) and developed a detailed list of deliverables and milestones to monitor and track the progress and state of preparedness of the Project before the shutdown. 

There were 3 critical areas (1) list of items that needed to be addressed as shown in slide # 3 under “ Goals” (2) overall work flow processes were developed including RACI charts to ensure that everyone was aligned (3) implement a Field Management system so that daily progress data could be compiled, reviewed and analyzed on real time basis, allowing for corrective and timely actions to be taken on a shift-by-shift basis as opposed to typical weekly project reviews. 

Improved timely decision making using detailed Organization RACI charts communicating who is responsible for change management and scope management, amongst other project functions. 

Improved site communication and overcame the requirement for full face masks and a work environment with high-ambient noise levels by providing 2 positive pressure shacks located on each floor where masks could be removed, and where issues could be easily and openly discussed 

To improve Contractor performance and acceptance of new control processes and feed back loops – A “Great Save” program that identified weekly the “best safety behavior” was implemented with rewards to the contractor for the best save. 

A real-time QA/QC application was implemented to ensure seamless transition from construction to pre-com to commissioning to operation on a system by system basis. 

PTAG PROCESS

SMEs Delivered, Implemented, Administered and Monitored the Program 

  1. Review, Assess and Plan 
  2. Report Results on Near – Real basis 
  3. Develop Field Management Admin Program and FM Training 
  4. Implement and Administer 
  5. Monitor and Report the Results 
  6. Plan for Next Machine Rebuild 

PROCESS RESULT 

Project Controls (PCO) and Contract Admin(CA) team members Delivered and Implemented the Project based on the overall process as shown below: 

PTAG TEAM of SMEs developed and implemented new streamlined Project Control and Contract Admin processes from May 2019 to completion of the Project Dec 2019 to improve contractor feedback, corrective action, decision making and scheduling.  The Program was tailored to work within site constraints and training over 200 workers in a congested area at site. 

RESULTS SUCCESS 

  • Completed the 8-month project with 57 days of shutdown within budget and time  
  • No Lost Time Accidents 
  • No cost-overruns and claims as compared to previous 2 similar machine projects which were delayed by 2-3 weeks and 30- 40% of cost over-runs 
  • Past lessons learned and best practices were identified and implemented by Joint Client/PTAG team 
  • Implemented real time progressing at each work face of the round-the-clock shift work allowing timely corrective actions to be take on a shift- by- shift basis to maintain schedule vs typical daily or weekly review meetings. 

ACHIEVEMENTS 

“At the end of every shift we knew where we stood … and we could take timely and necessary corrective steps?” 

Client Project Manager and Construction Coordinators

PTAG provides leading firms in the Power, Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Mining, and Capital Infrastructure markets with qualified People, efficient Business Processes, and Information Management Systems that ensure consistently successful delivery and efficient operation of major capital projects.