PROCESSING OPTIMISATION
CLIENT
Major North American Producer
OBJECTIVE
Xenco was engaged to identify key opportunities for optimising operations at a large gold refinery. The client sought to gain a better understanding behind their higher operational costs at this site compared to similar sites within its portfolio.
To assist the client in meeting its operational efficiency goals, a comprehensive benchmarking analysis was conducted. This analysis was designed to identify and quantify significant cost discrepancies and operational differences across the client’s portfolio.
THE CHALLENGES
Key challenges identified by our team included:
- Increased labour and material costs driving up
operational expenses. - Increased power consumption.
- Greater spending on reagents.
- Limited understanding of impact of geographic, process, and logistical factors.
APPROACH
Xenco implemented a benchmarking strategy to address high operational costs. This involved:
- Data Analysis – Initial business intelligence reports were followed by a deep dive into operational and budgetary data.
- Comparison Metrics – Cost-per-tonne milled was the key benchmark for consistency across operations.
- Key Cost Drivers – Labour, power, tailings management, and reagent usage were analysed to identify cost-saving opportunities.
- Visualisation – Graphs and data visualisations highlighted discrepancies and trends for better decision-making.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Our team identified several key factors which most contributed to elevated operating costs at the client’s operation were identified.
OUR RESULT
As a result of the benchmarking analysis conducted by Xenco, over $58 per tonne in potential cost savings were identified, enabling the client to address key financial inefficiencies while maintaining high operational standards.
These findings also provided insights into where projects needed to be prioritised and where responsibilities should be assigned to address key cost drivers. By leveraging these insights, the operation was able to develop a clear roadmap for cost reduction, supporting long-term operational success.
