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Beyond breakdown: Building resilience through robust equipment maintenance in mining

11/14/2025 · 5 minute read

The global mining sector, foundational to the energy transition and the heart of the global economy, operates under constant duress. Mining equipment is exposed to severe pressure, fluctuating loads, high temperatures, and corrosive substances, accelerating wear and tear. For modern mining organizations, equipment breakdown is a significant risk that, if unaddressed, can lead to catastrophic impacts, delay production for extended periods, or trigger mine closure.

Unplanned disruptions, including equipment failures, are costly blind spots that drive financial losses and undermine stakeholder confidence. To sustain operations in the short-term and ensure resilience for decades to come, leaders must focus intently on strengthening maintenance systems and ensuring equipment remains well-maintained.

The high cost of equipment failure

Losses resulting from equipment failure involve steep repair or replacement costs and missed production revenue. Furthermore, mining equipment is often highly specialized, meaning the lead time to acquire critical components can take months or even years.

Adding to this operational pressure is the existing talent gap and labor shortage across the sector. Many organizations struggle to attract and retain the skilled maintenance professionals needed across corporate management and onsite positions to fulfill these crucial business functions.

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Sustaining robust maintenance systems

A rigorous maintenance regime is essential for long-term viability. Equipment maintenance typically falls into two critical categories:

  1. Mechanical maintenance: Mining operations rely on extensive rotating, mobile, and fixed equipment. Proactively addressing mechanical issues helps prevent equipment failures, optimizes performance, and ensures smooth processes. Tasks include non-destructive testing (NDT), bearing inspections, alignment checks, and belt replacements.
  2. Electrical maintenance: Electrical systems are the crux of any mining operation. Proper maintenance minimizes the risk of failures, enhances safety, and avoids costly disruptions. Regular tasks involve inspecting and testing components such as transformers, motors, circuit breakers, and batteries to identify potential issues like loose connections or overheating.

Beyond the basics: modern maintenance approaches

To maximize equipment longevity, mining companies should incorporate advanced maintenance strategies into their operational business continuity plans:
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This is a time or frequency-based approach based on OEM guidelines and industry experience. Measures include routine NDT of mills, regular electrical testing, machinery lubrication, and filter replacements. A comprehensive program improves safety and minimizes costly downtime.

Moving beyond set schedules, this strategy leverages data analysis to forecast when equipment is likely to fail. Sophisticated tools, such as vibration sensing, temperature profiling, and oil analysis, are used to collect continuous data. This is especially crucial for large-scale, central systems (like a ring gear) that have replacement lead times exceeding a year.

Also known as reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), this focused approach works alongside the other two, to analyze the cause of equipment failures. Its basic principles include root cause analysis (RCA), business contingency planning, and optimized risk management programming.

The crucial role of critical spares

A well-crafted sparing strategy is a crucial element for reducing the impact of an unplanned shut-down. While purchasing all critical spare parts may not always be feasible due to cost and storage requirements, strategically purchasing certain high-value, long-lead-time spares can be highly cost-effective in the long run. For instance, spending a few million dollars on a spare ring gear today can save 100 times that amount by avoiding forced downtime.

It is also crucial to note that spare parts may have specific storage requirements (e.g., maintaining the right temperature) to remain usable and effective.

Four strategies to strengthen equipment maintenance

To prolong equipment lifespan and minimize unplanned downtime, mining leaders should implement these proactive strategies:

At the start of production, analyze specialized equipment exposures using historical failure data. This analysis should identify critical components, assess potential downtime and financial impact, and evaluate replacement costs and delivery times.

Consistent monitoring of performance and operational parameters enables timely interventions and prevents unexpected breakdowns. A proactive approach helps identify trends that inform predictive maintenance schedules and enhances operational efficiency and safety.

NDT methods (such as ultrasonic testing or magnetic particle inspection) assess equipment integrity without causing damage. Regular NDT, often conducted by specialized third-party contractors, helps identify hidden issues (like cracks or metal thinning in mill gears and trunnions) and allows leaders to plan accordingly.

Identify your operation’s most critical components and ensure the appropriate spare parts are readily available, potentially stored in nearby warehouses. Regularly reviewing and updating inventory based on usage and failure patterns is essential. When full spares are not feasible, robust asset management strategies and contingency plans are vital to limit business interruption.

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Mitigating the risks associated with equipment breakdown is an ongoing priority, requiring consistency and regular strategy review. The most competitive organizations know that maintaining equipment health is the cornerstone of mine safety, plant availability, and resilience.

While robust equipment maintenance is critical, modern mining companies face an intricate web of interconnected risks that require holistic management. Resourcing for tomorrow: Building resilience for mining companies  highlights five crucial risk areas with the greatest implications for miners today. 

To learn how to build resilience against climate events, equipment failures, cyberattacks, geopolitical shocks, and people risks and fully understand their interconnected exposures, download the complete guide.

Download the full report to master the 5 critical risks for modern mining resilience.

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