As operating and capital costs sky-rocket, mining companies must exercise financial discipline in their organisations more aggressively, fuel management system company Transstate Group (TSG) business development director Michael Wood tells Mining Weekly.

The company exhibited its fuel-monitoring solutions at this year’s Electra Mining Africa, held in Johannesburg from September 15 to 19.

Wood notes that typical strategies of financial discipline include pinpointing cost drivers to reduce costs at enterprisewide and functional levels; using analytics to improve asset efficiency to better plan and execute maintenance, which improves productivity; and streamlining the supply chain to develop the pit-to-port-to-customer concept.

“To do this effectively, you need to accurately monitor, analyse and manage critical cost areas, and diesel fuel is one of the largest single operational costs of any openpit mining operation,” he says.

To improve efficiency and prevent misuse, the location and authenticity of every litre should be automatically monitored, he notes, adding that, with mines using up to 20-million litres a month of diesel fuel, savings of 7.5% on diesel using a Fuel Management System (FMS) can easily translate into millions of rands.

“Important, and often overlooked, aspects of a successful FMS are design specifications and maintenance. If incorrectly designed or not maintained, any FMS will become redundant. Fuel management consultants can be helpful in this regard,” he says.

Wood explains that TSG develops hydro-carbon management systems that are cost effective and user friendly. It also develops and implements robust and up-to-date hardware and software platforms in Africa under the PetroMan brand, providing meticulous, real-time measuring and reporting that enables clients to intricately control hydrocarbon use.

“We have a growing footprint in Africa and will start working on a site in Nigeria this month where we will design and install various components, electronic devices and software on vehicles, dispensers and tanks,” he says, adding that the company is also involved on mines in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

“PetroMan can be custom-designed to accommodate a client’s particular fuel management needs and address all site-specific circumstances”, says TSG MD Johan Pienewald.

He explains that by integrating into various enterprise resource planning systems, PetroMan ensures that clients immediately benefit from theft prevention and reduction in ‘misuse’ losses; leakage, spillage and vehicle misuse are cut down and there is visible improved preventive maintenance, data input automation, increased productivity, extended engine life and better overall fuel management.
He adds that savings through improved efficiencies and reduced wastage ensure that users typically pay back their investments within months.

Wood states that the benefit of the system is that it is installed on tanks from which fuel is decanted, as well as on dispensing stations and vehicles, so that diesel use can be monitored from the time it arrives on site until it is used.

“The systems also downloads kilometre and hour readings as well as tank levels, which is then captured on the mine’s enterprise resource planning system.