A fresh approach to mine organization and incentive planning based on experience at Campbell Chibougamau Mines Ltd. (now Campbell Resources Inc.)

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 74, No. 826, 1981

J.G. STRASSER, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Campbell Chibougamau Mines Ltd., Toronto, Ontario

There has been considerable output over the last three decades from the social sciences concerning man and his working environment. In the mining industry at large, however, authoritarian, hierarchical control systems remain the norm, and it can be argued that something less than optimum effectiveness in terms of both productivity and worker satisfaction has resulted.Recently (1975), Campbell Chibougamau Mines Ltd. devised a most interesting organization and incentive system that links the underground production of a standard ton of mined output at controlled grade to an incentive payment scheme. A parallel scheme in the mill complex is based on maximizing recovery of copper and gold from available feed. A key part of both systems is the formation of groups who have considerable autonomy, particularly when compared to the still prevalent traditional mining industry relationships between the worker and supervisory levels.This paper traces the development of Campbell Chibougamau's system. Attention is drawn to qualitative and quantitative measures of the success of the method through the commentary of those miners involved in the scheme, and by reference to the favourable records on productivity, absenteeism, safety, turnover and grievance activity.

Keywords: Manpower organization, Incentive planning, Campbell Chibougamau Mines Ltd., Productivity, Safety, Cost control.