Lesiba Moja studies how the reliability, availability and maintainability of critical components shape plant productivity in remote mining operations.
An industry-grounded RAM study
Remote sites face long supply chains, limited specialist support and costly production interruptions. A component-level failure can therefore have consequences far beyond the repair itself. Lesiba’s quantitative research connects failure and maintenance evidence to the availability of the wider plant.
The case material spans conveyor-belt pulleys, mill liners and gyratory-crusher mantle liners. These examples cover different degradation modes and replacement constraints, allowing the research framework to be tested against more than one equipment class.
Intended contribution
The work aims to help operations identify the maintenance and reliability interventions that contribute most strongly to productive time. It complements RAMMS research on maintenance sourcing and predictive maintenance by focusing on the measurable RAM behaviour of high-consequence components.
Lesiba is completing the research part-time under the supervision of Johann Wannenburg. The programme was extended into 2027 to accommodate work commitments while preserving the study’s operational scope.