Momentum has been described as a mass in motion, a ball that keeps rolling, a force. Cagdianao Mining Corporation dived straight into 2019 with the confidence of its past triumphs, wisdom gained from overcoming past problems, conviction to conquer more challenges, and the hunger to break records; and it showed. The nature of the challenges remain, but as the company is emerging as a vital player within the Nickel Asia Corporation family, the level of difficulty increases, the targets go up, the expectations mounts, and the possibility of failure is ever present. Then October came. By this month, CMC had already made a historic milestone with the 300th shipment to China (301 by October 25) since it started supplying nickel ore to that country in 2006. Mostly importantly, CMC exceeded beyond its 44 target shipments for 2019 and managed to ship out a total of 51 shipments in the same period, the greatest number of completed shipments for a single year since it started its commercial operation in 2010. 10Million safe man-hours Best of all, CMC managed to attain these targets without sacrificing the health and safety of its workplace. It has proved its commitment in providing a safe and healthy working environment for its employees. Momentum is sustained not only in one spectrum of its operations, but crucially in the aspect of health and safety of its personnel, as well. Data from the Safety Department showed that the company has already racked up a whopping 10,354,010 million safe man-hours without lost time accident. This safety record did not grow in a vacuum: it emerges from a culture carefully cultivated and maintained every single day of the year. Engr. Joel Reyes, Safety Manager said: “Getting the 10 million safe manhour is the work of all team. Of course with the support with our management and our vice president for operations, Engr. Aloysius Diaz.” There have been many notable achievements in 2019 alone. Resident Mine Manager, Engr. Nilo C. Milaor, pointed to common denominators for why CMC managed to successfully keep the momentum going, hit its goals, and set new standards along the way:
Ownership of the decision-making process
Efficient internal communication
Consistent recognition and rewards for deserving team members
Constant communications and interfacing among team members
The ability to take time off, celebrate, and play
The results of these innovative moves have also become evident among regulators and industry peers. In November 2019, Cagdianao Mining Corporation received the highly-coveted Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award during the 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference in Baguio City. CMC's ingredients for success may require periodic tweaks to respond to unforeseen events or changes, but its workforce knows that with unity of purpose and clarity of vision, it will keep the ball rolling well into 2020 and beyond.
