Where Will You Source the Mining Equipment You Need?
What do you need to develop a mine or to keep a mine running? You need the right location and you need a dedicated team of experienced employees who know just what is involved in every aspect of mining, but you need something else as well. You must have the right mining equipment. It doesn't matter how many feasibility studies you carry out or how good your team may be; even if you are sitting on top of huge mineral deposits, your mine will fail if you don't have suitable mining equipment to extract the minerals and carry away the spoil.
Choosing the right mining equipment
When it comes to selecting the right mining equipment, then your needs will vary depending on the nature of your site. You must consider the amount of spoil that you will want to carry away from the site and how it will reach the surface. The type of mining equipment that you need will probably include loaders, bulldozers, and grading machines as well as haul trucks for the spoil.
Whatever mining equipment you buy, you will need to plan carefully to make sure that you source suitable quantities of each and that they are put to good use on your site. There aren't many companies that can afford to have valuable equipment sitting idle for weeks at a time. To make sure that you pick the right equipment, it can help to talk through your requirements with an experienced mining equipment company.
Taking care of your mining equipment
Obtaining the right mining equipment matters, but even if your mining equipment is brand new and in pristine condition, it isn't going to stay that way for very long. The rigours of mining and the tough, often hostile environment mean that it is inevitable that after a while some of your equipment will experience a failure. As a working mine, it is important that any faulty mining equipment is returned to operational duty as quickly as possible.
It can be helpful to speak to your mining equipment company and find out what arrangement they can make for repairing mining equipment. Will they be willing to make site visits? If the fault is serious, do they have the right facilities at their depot for repairing your equipment and then returning it to you or would they need to have certain jobs completed elsewhere which could add to your downtime? The more questions you ask a mining equipment company at the beginning, the more successful your future relationship with them is likely to be.