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<\/a>In \u201cRising to the Occasion<\/a> \u2013 Lessons from the Bingham Canyon Manefay Slide,\u201d Dr Ross recounted the dramatic events of April 10, 2013 and the largest mining landslide in history.<\/p>\nFaced with scarps towering over 600 feet, no access for large equipment to go into the mine and limited ore because debris had covered more than half of what had previously been exposed, Dr. Ross and his team faced a daunting task: develop the geotechnical studies and mine planning to demonstrate the long-term viability of the mine. He experienced how leadership, teamwork and dedication can create a culture of innovation to accomplish near-impossible goals.<\/p>\n
Among those near-impossible goals was to have a small part of the mine back in operation within 48 hours of the slide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t make it,\u201d admitted Dr. Ross in an interview after his presentation. \u201cMidnight came and went, and we were not in operations. By one o\u2019clock in the morning, we were \u2013 unbelievable! And we all thought that was an impossible goal to begin with, and we missed it by one hour. And it could have taken months \u2026 but we didn’t take any shortcuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went from a workforce that thought they were out of work to a workforce saying, wow, we\u2019re back to work. We went from a community that thought they\u2019d lost their largest employer to a community that was saying, how can we help?<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, how do you shut down a mine forever that’s already back to work?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ingredients for mining innovation<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe ingredients for innovation are not necessarily contingent on adversity or a record-breaking landslide, argued Dr. Ross, who today is the Founder and Director of the Geotechnical Center of Excellence at University of Arizona. Trust between staff and management is key, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew the failure was coming,\u201d recalled Dr. Ross. \u201cWe didn’t know exactly when to begin with. And we were still working at that point. We were still having people go into the mine. And we, as managers, every day would ask, well, what was the movement the day before? Because we knew that if it’s starting to accelerate, that’s when you have to really start worrying …<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, at some point somebody said, well, if we, as managers, wanted to know that information, what about our employees that go down into pit every day? Don’t they need that information?\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to share all slope movement information between managers and the entire Bingham Canyon workforce was pivotal to the teamwork that would follow the slide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat communication actually built a really strong trust between the leadership and the workforce that followed through,\u201d said Dr. Ross. \u201cAnd when we started creating these possible goals, it was that trust that was built on and made a big difference at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
As partner and innovation practice lead at Stratalis Consulting, George Hemingway<\/a> is also well qualified to address the principles behind innovation. He advises executives on that very topic, as well as growth strategy and futures. He is a published monthly columnist and frequent keynote speaker.<\/p>\nIn an interview after his HxGN LIVE Mining Tucson 2019 keynote, \u201cThe Future of Mining,\u201d Hemingway identified the same key to the mining industry\u2019s attempts to transform.<\/p>\n
In an interview after his HxGN LIVE Mining Tucson 2019 keynote, \u201cThe Future of Mining,\u201d Hemingway identified the same key to the mining industry\u2019s attempts to transform.<\/p>\n
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