Inside Dean Palmiere’s practice · Myra Falls Mine
Mine restart: procurement, inventory and operations had to work as one
A remote underground mine was moving through restart toward stable operation. Production, maintenance and capital work needed reliable materials support while leadership balanced supply assurance, cost and inventory investment.
The operating work
What I was responsible for
Supply Chain leadership, working with operations, maintenance, finance and executive leadership.
Dean directed procurement, contracts, inventory, warehousing and materials management. His portfolio records standardized purchasing, stronger supplier relationships, inventory rationalization, clearer approval authorities and cross-functional reporting.
What changed
- Standardized purchasing and applied defined approval authorities.
- Connected commercial evaluation and reporting to operational priorities.
- Reviewed inventory holdings and obsolete material while strengthening supplier relationships.
What the account reports
The portfolio reports improved contract compliance, lower inventory investment and removal of obsolete stock. These are Dean’s reported outcomes, not independent client validation.
What this taught me
Follow the material requirement across the whole operation.
The operating issue crosses procurement, inventory, maintenance and finance. A purchase can be commercially sound and still fail the operation if the specification, required date, stock record or approval is unclear. Equally, stocking more material can conceal an unreliable planning or handoff process. This is why the account links purchasing controls, supplier relationships and inventory review rather than treating them as separate improvements.
Questions I would take into the room
- Who defines the operating consequence and required date before a purchase is approved?
- How do maintenance, procurement and inventory agree that the requirement has been fulfilled?
- Which shortages, obsolete holdings or approval exceptions require a joint review?
Source and scope of this account
Source: 20 - Executive Case Study - Trafigura Myra Falls Mine v1.0.docx
- The source describes the mandate, functions led, purchasing controls and inventory outcomes.
- Financial figures in the source are not reproduced here; underlying client records are not published.
This account makes the connection between MODUS and CUSTODIA concrete: material flow must work today without leaving unmanaged inventory or continuity risk for tomorrow. PRAEVENIRE provides a lens for asking how reporting leads to preventive action. The source does not establish that formal VC artifacts were used.