Mining

Maximise asset availability across
your entire mining fleet

Mining assets operate in extreme environments under continuous load — and when a haul truck engine or hydraulic system fails, it costs thousands per hour in lost production. FluidInspectIR® monitors oil condition continuously across engines, hydraulics and compressors, enabling condition-based maintenance decisions that reduce failures and extend asset life.

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$201k
Max annual saving
per asset
77%
Reduction in monthly
oil change cost
3
Sensors per asset —
engine, hydraulic, compressor
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Haul truck engines
MIR + Viscosity · TAN · TBN · Soot · Fuel dilution
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Hydraulic systems
MIR + OPC · Particle count 4/6/14 µm · Water · Contamination
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Compressors
MIR + OPC · Viscosity · Oxidation · Moisture
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Excavators & loaders
Portable or inline · Engine oil + hydraulic
Fixed plant — crushers & mills
Inline · Gearbox oil · Viscosity · Contamination
The challenge

Calendar-based maintenance misses the real condition of your assets

Mining operations rely on fixed-interval oil change schedules that ignore what's actually happening inside the machine. A conservative 250-hour engine oil change interval means over-maintenance on assets running in good conditions, and under-protection on assets where oil is degrading faster.

Periodic lab sampling provides 4 data points per year. FluidInspectIR® provides over 8,000 — giving maintenance teams a real operational baseline and the ability to identify deviating assets before they fail.

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Fixed-interval changes waste oil and money

Monthly oil changes at $33,222 per engine are scheduled without reference to actual oil condition — most oil is being changed well before its useful life is exhausted.

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No real operational baseline

With only 4 lab samples per year, there is no way to define what "good" engine behaviour looks like — or to identify which assets in the fleet are deviating.

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Failures arrive without warning

Catastrophic breakdowns in remote mining operations cost $50,000–$1M+ in lost production and emergency repairs — and they arrive without warning under current monitoring approaches.

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Manual sampling in harsh environments

Collecting oil samples from hot, remote, or elevated machinery exposes technicians to H&S risks — and sampling quality is often inconsistent, reducing lab result reliability.

How FluidInspectIR® helps
Continuous intelligence across engine, hydraulic and compressor

Up to 3 sensors per asset, one control unit

A single in-cabin control unit manages up to three FluidInspectIR® sensors sequentially — engine, hydraulic, and compressor — on a single haul truck or excavator. IP67 rated, no consumables, 3–4 year operational life.

Extend engine oil from 250 hrs to 500–750 hrs

FluidInspectIR® tracks TAN, TBN, soot, oxidation and viscosity in real time. When data shows oil is still performing within spec, the drain interval is extended safely — halving oil spend and maintenance stops.

Trend analysis and fleet benchmarking

DataInspectIR® plots each engine's oxidation slope across multiple oil drain intervals, projecting exactly when the OEM limit will be reached. All assets are compared side-by-side to identify deviating machines instantly.

Define "good" — 8,000+ data points per year

Thousands of data points per year replace 4 lab samples — giving you the real operational baseline to define what good engine behaviour looks like and replicate best-asset practices across the fleet.

Military-grade certification

FluidInspectIR® sensors have passed military-grade certification (combat tanks) — designed to withstand the vibration, shock, and environmental extremes of open-pit and underground mining operations.

Portable for spot-checks and smaller fleets

FluidInspectIR® Portable delivers on-site oil analysis in under 3 minutes — no external lab required. Results upload to DataInspectIR® for a unified fleet view alongside inline data.

Quantified savings
$201,386 maximum annual saving per asset
$201,386

Maximum annual saving per mining asset

Monthly oil change cost falls from $33,222 to $7,706 per engine. Less oil consumed, lower CO₂ footprint, fewer maintenance stops — and reduced risk of costly unplanned failure.

600h → 1,400h

Typical oil drain interval extension

In a validated biogas engine deployment, FluidInspectIR® extended oil drain intervals from 600 hours to 1,400 hours — targeting 1,800 hours. The same principle applies directly to mining engine and hydraulic applications.

8,000+

Data points per year, per asset

Versus 4 lab samples from traditional sampling. Trend analysis of each engine across multiple oil drain intervals projects when OEM limits will be reached — enabling condition-based, not calendar-based, decisions.

$50k–$1M+

Saving per avoided unplanned failure

48–72 hours advance warning from slope trend monitoring converts catastrophic breakdowns into planned interventions. Each avoided failure in a remote mining operation saves tens to hundreds of thousands in lost production and emergency repairs.

Pillars of value
Six financial levers for mining operators

Mining customers typically deliver four or more of these pillars simultaneously — with payback periods measured in months.

↓ Oil Cost Reduction

Condition-based drain intervals

Extend engine oil from 250 hrs to 500–750 hrs and hydraulic oil from 2,000 to 4,000+ hrs. Monthly oil change cost falls from $33,222 to $7,706 — a 77% reduction in oil and filter spend.

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↓ Avoided Unplanned Downtime

48–72 hours advance warning

Early slope alerts give advance warning before a failure. Convert catastrophic breakdowns into planned interventions. Each avoided event in mining saves $50k–$1M+ in lost production and emergency repair.

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↑ Extended Component Life

Clean oil, less wear

Tight oil condition control reduces internal wear rates. Engine life extension of 20–30% reduces rebuild frequency and capital replacement cycles — critical for high-value mining assets.

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↓ CO₂ & ESG Reduction

Fewer oil changes, lower footprint

Each oil change on a large mining truck generates 15–50 kg CO₂e. 50% fewer changes across a 20-vehicle fleet avoids 1.5–5 tonnes CO₂ per year — supporting ESG and emissions reporting.

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✓ Health & Safety

Eliminate manual sampling

Inline monitoring removes technician exposure to hot oil, elevated machinery, and remote harsh environments. Reduces H&S incidents, PPE costs, and regulatory risk across the fleet.

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✓ Warranty & Compliance

Objective, timestamped records

Continuous DataInspectIR® records provide objective evidence of oil condition history for OEM warranty claims and regulatory compliance — replacing subjective paper-based logs.

What gets measured
Parameters critical for mining assets
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Total Acid Number (TAN)

Rising TAN indicates combustion acid build-up — the primary driver of engine oil degradation in mining diesels and gas engines.

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Total Base Number (TBN)

TBN depletion signals loss of acid neutralisation reserve — the key indicator for engine oil change timing on heavy mining equipment.

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Viscosity @40°C / @100°C

Viscosity monitors fuel dilution, thermal breakdown, and oil mixing — critical in both engine and hydraulic circuits on mining assets.

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Soot content

Combustion soot in mining diesel engine oils — leading indicator of ring and seal wear and combustion inefficiency.

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Oxidation level

Real oxidation slope measured directly against OEM limits — projects exactly when the oil drain is required, enabling condition-based scheduling.

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Optical particle count (OPC)

4, 6 and 14 µm particle counts for hydraulic and compressor circuits — detects wear debris, seal failure, and contamination ingress.

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Water content

Water ingress from failed seals or cooler leaks — detected in real time before it causes bearing damage in hydraulics and engines.

Fuel dilution

Detects fuel dilution from injector leaks — a major cause of viscosity drop and premature oil degradation in mining diesel engines.

Case study — Mining

$201,386 annual saving per asset — substantial savings and trend analysis

Monthly oil change cost fell from $33,222 to $7,706 per engine by switching to condition-based drain intervals. Trend analysis of each engine across multiple oil drain intervals allows maintenance teams to project exactly when the OEM limit will be reached. All assets are compared side-by-side in DataInspectIR® to identify deviating machines instantly and replicate best-asset practices across the fleet.

Discuss your mining fleet →
$201,386
Maximum annual saving per mining asset — oil cost reduction + avoided downtime
$33,222 → $7,706
Monthly oil change cost per engine — 77% reduction through condition-based drain intervals
8,000+
Data points per year versus 4 lab samples — enough to define a real operational baseline
Discuss your mining application
Talk to our application engineers about your fleet.
Haul trucks, excavators, fixed plant — we'll tell you what's realistic for your operation.
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