Gold Fields, the third largest gold mining company in Africa, continued to spend the money annually in its only facilities in South Africa until it started searching for inspiration in the approach of the Toyota company, where the deep southern mine began, about 70 km southwest of Johannesburg. Following the demobilisation of thousands of personnel to end a contract of losses, certain Toyota ideas were adopted in 2018 to increase productivity.
Gold Fields, which derives the majority of its income from Australia, attempted to transform the South Deep mine into a so-called “first-level mine” that produces at least 500 thousand ounces of gold per year by taking inspiration from the “Toyota” company’s operations. Keep in mind that achieving that target will require a 66% increase in output.
“Toyota” was a pioneer in the so-called appropriate time system that represents a methodology for manufacturing work aimed at reducing flow times and costs and keeping inventory empty of waste and non-necessary materials, which helped the company produce cars quickly and efficient According to a recent story by Bloomberg, Vietnam turned the Toyota operation last year, which prompted her to cut production in September 2021 by 40%.
The mine was able to cut down on supply chain delays, according to Change Lutz, head of the mine’s resources, who said that the major materials and equipment would have needed to be delivered to workers roughly 3 kilometres down for extended periods of time.
At the same time, the South Deep mine, which, according to the business, in 2018 decreased the number of underground drilling platforms, cranes, and trucks by a third, distributed new technology, including the drilling machine that will boost gold extraction.
Martin Press, who is in charge of the company’s operations in South Africa, predicts that production will rise by about 30% annually in the coming years. This is because the mine is anticipated to produce more than 300,000 ounces of gold this year, and by the year 2024, production will be close to 423,000.
The mine is “much smaller and at a slightly higher cost than what Imagine it at the beginning, but what matters to the matter is that it no longer drains criticism anymore,” according to Mandy Dongua, an analyst in asset management at Kamisa Aseet Management in Cape Town. However, the profitability of the mine depends on the relatively high price of gold, and its operations are occasionally at the mercy of the strong labour unions.
The mine is one of the deepest in the world, and Gold Fields anticipates production for the next eighty years after purchasing it in 2006 for $1.2 billion.
Gold Fields imitates Toyota’s strategy for boosting profits.
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