COMPUTERS Software by CanTung

The world’s largest producer of tungsten ore, Canada Tungsten Mining Corp., has turned out a software program, as yet unnamed, to help run its worldwide operations and affiliates. CanTung is part of the amax family of mining companies. Some seven years ago, Bryce Porter, now CanTung’s vice-president of finance and administration, and Udo von Doehren, its controller, were involved in the development of the Kitsault mine, which is operated by a related company. It quickly became apparent that computers would be needed to improve efficiency.

“The main problem with any complex industrial undertaking is cost control,” says Tom Bunko, computer manager and chief architect of CanTung’s software and computer network. He’s horrified at the thought of what life would be like without the computer to monitor the overall operation.

“The computer allows us to control costs at the mine site itself,” he says. “Without it, costs would be completely unmanagable. Not just control, but local control, is what’s needed. People at the site need online access to, for example, what is in stock, when replacements are due, what they will cost and so on. You need the computer right there.”

Hardware was the first priority — the final choice being the ibm system 36 — partly because of ibm’s ability to provide service to remote mine locations.

Another factor in designing the system was the lack of secure communications. With far-flung operations in sometimes hostile environments, telephone communications are often unreliable. Hence the decision to go with independent but interconnected computers rather than one central, large installation.

Bunko adds: “The system 36 is adaptable enough to be configured as a desk-top model or a full minicomputer. That gives us the needed flexibility, and it’s powerful enough to do what we require.”

He cites the example of the Kitsault mine, some 70 miles north of Prince Rupert, B.C., which uses the same computer system. “By switching to computer control and using the sophisticated inventory analysis features we have built into our system, we were able to tighten inventory control while maintaining service to users. That paid for our computerization right there.”

CanTung demands a lot from its computer system. The company runs everything from minesite stores to preventive maintenance systems, from general ledger to payroll, with its custom-programmed computer. Years of thought and effort have gone into CanTung’s software. A major feature of the system is how easy it is to use. “We wanted our employees to be able to use the computer and not to be afraid of it. We designed it so we don’t need any data- processing staff.”

A good deal of this ease of use is accomplished by means of an exception system. The computer will produce, for example, a list of maintenance jobs that must be done on a certain piece of equipment in a given week. It will assume that assigned tasks are completed on time. If that is not the case, the maintainer need only change the date on which the work was actually done; no further reporting is required and the company’s data are always current.

It has been said that mining is a maintenance operation that incidently hauls ore from the ground. That being the case, it’s not suprising that a major effort was made to perfect mainte nance procedures. Once again, the computer proved invaluable.

To control maintenance costs, the system calculates actual costs per operating hour of each unit of equipment. It can then charge these actual costs directly to user departments or else charge standard rates per hour.

“It depends on philosophy,” Bunko explains. “If you charge actual costs, the operating departments soon learn which equipment is not cost-effective and that equipment will sit around a lot. On the other hand, if you charge standard rates, you can make the maintenance department responsible for a profit or less on operating equipment.”

Another feature of the system is the production of “tiered” information, where only the detail required by a given management level need be produced, with more available as required. With its expertise in mining, CanTung’s team has had no trouble setting up other related companies with its software.

“Australian Consolidated Minerals has one mine moving into operation and other sites being developed,” Porter explains. “Tom (Bunko) was down there last year and in 10 days he got their system up and running.

“Our experience has been that our affiliates have expected it would take many months to install acceptable computer systems. Bunko and the team have set up systems, in a few short weeks, that users really like.”

CanTung is now marketing its program to the rest of the mining industry, both in separate components and as a complete package.

But computerization is only one aspect of new developments in monitoring systems. A heightened interest in remotely monitoring the performance of mining and mill processes and equipment, such as underground ventilation, ph levels in mill streams and even mining machinery performance, has spurred the development and marketing of various devices and data collection systems in Canada.