Case Study: Newcrest Mining boosts truck speed and saves $835,000 with Minitab

Striking Gold with Minitab Newcrest Mining Limited

Newcrest Mining Limited, one of the world’s top gold mining companies and Australia’s largest gold producer, needed to improve productivity at its Cadia Hill mine. The challenge was to reduce variability in the speed of loaded haul trucks climbing a narrow ramp, since slower trucks delayed the entire fleet and lowered overall throughput. Newcrest used Minitab Statistical Software as part of its Six Sigma improvement program to analyze the problem.

With Minitab, Newcrest’s team identified ramp grade and fuel injectors as the key factors affecting truck speed, then tested and verified improvements through statistical analysis. By reducing ramp grade in a test section, truck speeds increased 2.6% and variation dropped 7%, while injector testing helped identify underperforming trucks and improve cycle time by 5.6%. Overall, Minitab helped Newcrest implement changes expected to save more than $835,000 in the first year and add productivity across the Cadia Hill mine.

Newcrest Mining Limited