Influence of Demographical Experiences in Importance of Technological and Managerial Factors on Productivity Enhancement of Dewatering Plants

Abstract

The demand for mineral products has increased in the international level along with economic development. As a result, the production and accumulation of mineral resources have gone up. However, it has caused many problems with respect to economy and the environment. Due to this, in the mining process, they must be reasonably treated to prevent from entering the water cycle through rivers. For further recovery as an industrial by-product, there is a need for installation of Dewatering Plant to address the Environmental sustainability and optimisation of Plant Productivity. Productivity is also influenced by various technological and managerial factors. This paper describes the Influence of demographical experiences and considered managerial and technological factors in optimization of Productivity of Dewatering Plants. Here considering the case of key Dewatering Plants in India, perceptions of experienced personnel associated with Dewatering Plants have been analysed to study the influence of both factors. The analysis was done based on different demographical experiences of respondents. This paper discusses findings of significance levels of both technological as well management factors based on demographical experiences and suggests how this could be strategically used in any organizations particularly in dewatering plants.

Introduction

Dewatering plants in mining and mineral beneficiation industries face challenges in improving productivity while addressing environmental concerns such as tailings disposal and water recovery. Modern press-filter technology has emerged as an environmentally sustainable solution, reducing ponding, water loss, and unsafe handling, while producing low-moisture tailings cakes. Plant productivity, however, depends not only on technology but also on effective managerial practices.

Research Focus:
The study investigates how technological (SOPs, safety initiatives, innovation, plant layout, materials management) and managerial factors (leadership, teamwork, motivation, training, change management) influence plant productivity. It also explores how demographic experiences of respondents—such as total work experience, experience in dewatering plants, and exposure to multiple plants—affect these factors.

Methodology:

• Primary data collected via structured questionnaires, personal interviews, and telephonic surveys from senior management, engineers, vendors, consultants, and other stakeholders at dewatering plants in Ghato, Sukhinda, and Jamadoba.

• 205 respondents participated, providing insights on the relative significance of managerial and technological factors.

Key Findings:

• 56.1% of respondents emphasized technological factors, while 43.9% highlighted managerial factors.

• For respondents with less than 1 year of experience, managerial factors were more influential.

• As experience increased (1–5 years and above 6 years), technological factors gained prominence, though at very high experience levels, managerial factors again became significant.

• Respondents with exposure to multiple dewatering plants confirmed that both technological and managerial factors jointly contribute to productivity improvements.

Conclusion

From this study based on different demographical experiences and analyzing the collected data, it is evident that Technological as well Management factors are significant and they influence the Productivity of Dewatering Plant. However, from this study, as an overall view Technological factor seems to be more significant. But on the other hand, respondents having low working experiences prefer Management factors as more significant. Thus, at starting stage of working in Plant, one has a greater perception towards management factors, but with time, going deep into the technological interventions in the Plant, the inclination towards Technological factors is quite obvious. This also gets validated during mid period i.e. in and around 5 years of their working experiences. Further, after getting much exposure i.e. more than 6 years of working experiences, again preferences of significance level, shifts towards management factors.

References

[1] Bickert, G., Mechanical Dewatering of Tailings-an update with case studies, Paper 4A,14th Australian Coal Preparation Conference and Exhibition Proceedings,2012. [2] Brakel, J.V., and P.H.V. Rooijen. 1984. Prediction of the air consumption when dewatering a filter cake obtained by pressure filtration. Powder Technology 40: 235-245. [3] Cox, C., and F. Traczyk, 2002, Design features and types of filtration equipment. In Mineral processing plant design, practice, and control, eds [4] Fisher, D. M. (2012). Facet personality and surface-level diversity as team mental model antecedents: Implications for implicit coordination. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(4), 825-841. [5] Malikova, P., Thomas, J., Innovation in dewatering process of floatation tailings by study of particle interaction in colloidal environment, ELSEVIER, Science Direct. December, 2015 [6] Mishra. K.K. & Barik, B.(2025) “From Tradition to Sustainability: The Mediating Effect of Environmental Attitude and Concern for the Environment in the Relationship between Green Consumption Values and Purchase Intention for Handloom Products in India\", International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, Vol 17, No 02, Pp 215-229, ISSN 1753-6227, DOI: 10.1504/IJBEM.2025.145252 [7] Mudor, H. & Tooksoon, P. (2011). “Conceptual Framework on the Relationship between Human Resource Management Practices, Job Satisfaction and Turnover”, Journal of Economics & Behavioral Studies. Vol. 2(2): pp. 41 – 49. [8] Osta, G.F., Haran, Hari, 2018, Study of interrelationship of Techno-Managerial issues in installation of Dewatering Plant integrated with Mineral beneficiation facility in India, GROWTH, Journal of Management Training Institute, SAIL, Ranchi, vo.46, p53-57, ISSN: 2249-6394. [9] Osta, G.F., 2016, Evaluation of Overall Equipment Effectiveness, the IUJ Journal of Management. Jharkhand, vo.4, p38-43, ISSN: 2347-5080. [10] Patwardhan, A., Y.P.Chugh, B. J. Arnold, and A. N. Terblanche.2006. Dewatering ultrafine clean coal in a T. H. Filter Press. Coal Preparation 26:33-54 [11] Svarovsky, L. 1985. Solid-liquid separation process and technology: Handbook of powder technology. Vol. 5. Amsterdam: Elsevier. [12] Svarovsky, L. 1990. Solid-liquid separation. 3rd ed. London: Butterworths and Co. [13] Wakeman, R.J.1984. Residual saturation and dewatering of fine coals and filter cakes. Powder Technology 40: 53-63. [14] Wills, B.A., and T. J. Napier-Munn. 2006. Mineral processing technology. 7th ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. [15] Wentzel, K.R., & Wigfield, A. (2009) Handbook of Motivation at School. Routledge, New York.

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Dr. George Francis Osta, Prof. (Dr.) Bhagabat Barik. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.