Episode Details

In this episode, we chat with Mark Bowater, an experienced mine engineer and business owner with over 30 years of industry experience. In Australia, he worked with some of the majors and, during his career, has had directorships & ownerships of companies.

Mark has recently written a free book called "Crimes Against Mine Planning". During this podcast, he tells us more about the book and why he thinks mine planning is a broken model, and what needs to be used instead.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Mark´s aim is to leave the mining industry in better shape than it was 30 years ago. His book is a part of that.
• The book is written so that stakeholders, surveyors, and everyone can understand the mine planning process.
• The current approach to mine planning does not take enough account of the physical realities of mining.
• Probabilistic planning is a far more effective approach. It enables you to recognise that delays happen and have a plan in place that can quickly be adapted.
• Optimistic planning assumptions shorten the shelf life of the plan, which undermines the role of mine planners.
• Using software, that is being developed, it will be possible to plan using a probabilistic approach rather than continuing to use a deterministic model.
• Performance motivating should not be a part of the mine plan. It needs to be benchmarked separately.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I´ve spent 30 years working in the industry. I would now like to work on the industry. ´

‘The solution is stochastic or probabilistic planning.’

‘We have a lack of KPIs that measure the quality of mine plans… we focus on the wrong things.’

‘Writing the book has forced me to think at a deeper level.’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Link to the free PDF version of Crimes Against Mine Planning: https://markbowater.com/shop/ols/products/crimes-against-mine-planning-ebook

The paid version of the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crimes-Against-Mine-Planning-Pitfalls-ebook/dp/B09SXL8MVR/

Website: https://markbowater.com/

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/mineplanningguru

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Email: rob@mining-international.org

Website: https://www.mining-international.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theminingpodcast/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast/videos

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community insight into people's experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.

Rob