Exploration uses techniques like aerial surveys, ground surveys with density meters, and exploratory drilling to locate potential mineral deposits. If a deposit looks viable, a surface mine may be opened. At the mine site, large equipment like haul trucks, excavators, and draglines are used to extract and transport ore. The ore is crushed and milled to separate out minerals, with the milled material processed through techniques like screening, grinding, and leaching to produce a concentrated ore or final metal product. Lubricants play an important role in protecting and enabling the operation of all the heavy equipment.

1. How Surface Mining Works
August 2004

2. Table of Contents
• How are mines located?
• Mine Camps
• Mobile Equipment
• Lubrication Needs
• Mill

3. Exploration
Did you ever wonder how a mine came to be located where it did?
Exploration is a long and difficult process fraught with risks. Initial
surveys are often made by looking at
on their magnetic signature. Visual “tells” may also be noticeable
from the air but this is really the point where ground work begins

4. Exploration
On the ground, geologists and geophysisits continue the work. Using hand held equipment such as density
meters they measure the density of the ground and can further make inferences of the types of material
beneath them. They continue to look for signs of the minerals in questions or equally important for the types
of minerals (rocks) that are associated with the minerals in question.
For example, it is not very probable that one would ever find a vein of gold or copper or a diamond studded
rock sticking out. But gold is often found in association with quartz minerals (white rocks) and diamonds are
often found buried in a type of hard rock called Kimberlite that has been exposed to great heat and pressure.
If all looks good then exploratory drilling begins. Large drills are brought in to take long rock core samples
from the area or deposit of interest. These rock cores are very valuable and are usually kept locked up. The
rocks cores are assayed (tested in a lab) for the mineral content. From these cores a picture of the deposit in
3-D is slowly developed on a computer. It will not be an easy trip into most mines.

5. Exploration
If all still looks good it’s on to the next step. An
exploration mine may be established. Tunneling,
excavation and drilling work begins to more fully
determine the nature of the rock that they will be
working in and to more fully ascertain the mineral
deposit. Many, many questions remain at this point.
If after years of work the deposit is close to the
surface and looks viable to mine a surface mine is
opened

6. Mine Camp
This is where people live and work and it is located near the
Mill.

7. THE PIT
This is were most of the lubricants used in a surface
mine are utilized. There are many pieces of equipment
you can find here depending on the mine

8. Crawler Tractors and Bulldozers
The Bulldozer is often in the active mine to build new
ramps and roads for the Haul Trucks and Shovels to
travel on. A large ripping tooth is sometimes attached so
that very hard ground can be leveled.
Engine – DURON XL 15W-40
Hydraulics – HYDREX MV 36 /
DURON 10W
Transmission – PRODURO TO-4 10W
/ 30 / ALL SEASON
Final Drive – PRODURO TO-4 30 /50 /
ALL SEASON
Track Rollers – TRAXON 80W-90
Grease – PRECISION GOLD / GOLD
MOLY

9. Wheel Loaders
With the exception of large Electric Shovels, Wheel
Loaders have largely taken over the work once carried
out by cable shovels. They have huge capacity and are
very mobile and are able to quickly scoop up the rock
produced from blasting
Engine – DURON XL 15W-40
Transmission – PRODURO TO-4 10W
/ 30 / ALL SEASON
Hydraulics – HYDREX MV 36 /
DURON 10W
Final Drive – PRODURO TO-4 30 /50 /
ALL SEASON
Grease – PRECISION GOLD / GOLD
MOLY

10. Loader-Backhoes
Largely relegated to a support role, backhoes play an
important role in everyday operations.
Hydraulics – HYDREX MV 36 / DURON 10W
Transmission – PRODURO TO-
4 10W / 30 / ALL SEASON
Engine – DURON XL 15W-40
Final Drive – DURATRAN
Grease – PRECISION GOLD /
GOLD MOLY

11. Scrapers / Earthmovers
Scrapers can be either self-propelled (they have there own
engine) or are pulled by a tractor and are used to move large
amounts of dirt very quickly across the surface. They are
often used at the beginning and end of a mining operation to
remove and restore the top layers of soil very quickly and
evenly.
Transmission – PRODURO TO-4 10W
/ 30 / ALL SEASON
Grease – PRECISION GOLD /
GOLD MOLY
Final Drive – PRODURO TO-4
30 /50 / ALL SEASON
Hydraulics – HYDREX MV 36 /
DURON 10W
Engine – DURON XL 15W-40

12. Motor Graders
A Motor Graders primary purpose at a mine site is to
build and maintain roads in the pit area as well as all the
roads leading to the mine
Transmission – PRODURO TO-4 10W
/ 30 / ALL SEASON
Engine – DURON XL 15W-40
Final Drive – PRODURO TO-4 30
/50 / ALL SEASON
Grease – PRECISION GOLD /
GOLD MOLY
Hydraulics – HYDREX MV 36 /
DURON 10W

13. Haul Trucks
The life blood of the mine. Large Haul trucks haul up to
300 tons of rock and transport the material from blasting
to the ore crushing areas

14. HAUL TRUCK LUBRICATION

15. HAUL TRUCK LUBRICATION

16. Haul Truck Lubricants
Example
Engine: MTU Series 4000 Duron XL 15W-40
Coolant System Ethylene Glycol
Hydraulic System: Steering Duron 10W
Drivers: Rear Wheel Ultima Synthetic EP 220
Hubs: Front Ultima Synthetic EP 220
Gearbox: Pump Drive Traxon XL 80W-140
Axle Dirt Seals Precision Gold
Grease Points Precision Gold
Pins: Body Prop Vulcan All-Season

17. Cable Excavators / Wire Rope Shovels
Cable Excavators are slowly being replaced by Hydraulic
Excavators in many cases because they are cheaper to buy,
easier to operate, and quicker traveling. Wire-rope shovels
are capable of much heavier duty work and capacity than
hydraulic shovels even the bigger ones like the O&K
RH400. Wire-rope shovels are sturdier and will last longer
and generally require less maintenance overall.

18. Hydraulic Excavators
Reliable hydraulic systems have enabled these
machines to take over the job of loading material into
the haul trucks from Cable Excavators.
Transmission – TRAXON 80W-90
Hydraulics – HYDREX MV 36 / DURON
10W
Grease – PRECISION GOLD / GOLD
MOLY (All Pins)
Gear Swing Reduction –
TRAXON 80W-90
Engine – DURON XL 15W-40

19. Walking Draglines
Draglines are the largest of mobile mining pieces of
equipment. There function is to strip away the useless
over-burden and to move it out of the working area all
without the use of any other trucks or pieces of equipment.

20. Lubricants on a Dragline
Slide Cam Compound/Monigham Cam Compound (Depends
on Brand & model as to which product would be used.
Vulcan
/Supergear Fluid 680

21. Hydraulic Shovels
Petro-Canada promotes the use of Vulcan as an entire
machine lubricant. Quite often customers request an EP
Grease for bearing applications.
Vulcan Applications
Stick (Handles)
House Rollers
Ring Gear
Crowd Gearing

22. Hydraulic Shovels
This model of Shovel does not have Open Gears inside the
house. Models of shovels that do, would obviously use Vulcan.
Bucket pins are typically lubricated with an EP Moly Grease.

23. Hydraulic Shovels Up Close

24. Hydraulic Shovels Up Close

25. Hydraulic Shovels Up Close
The appropriate amount of Vulcan on the stick of Shovel

26. Up Close
Vulcan at work on the underside of the Shovel.
Applied to Pinion and Ring Gears which turn the
machine.

27. Mine Lubricants
Engine Crankcase
Duron 15W-40 or Duron XL 15W-40
Extended Oil Drains Very Valuable do to 24/7 nature
of the operation. Extended drains can mean the need
less equipment and huge $$$ savings.
Transmissions
Produro TO-4+ 10W or 30
Produro TO-4+ Synthetic All Season
Hydraulics (often need low temperature performance)
Duron 10W
Hydrex MV 36
Produro TO-4+ Synthetic All Season

28. THE ORE CRUSH PIT
This is where the Haul trucks dump there loads into large
grates. The rock is given its first crushing at this point
before it is transferred by excavator to the Ball Mill. Rock
is normally crushed with giant crushers that use specially
hardened teeth to a diameter of a few inches or so. From
here the rock is transported by conveyor to the SAG (semi
autogenous grinding) mill

29. ORE PROCESSING
A variable speed apron feeder pulls run-of-mine ore from a dump hopper to a
vibrating grizzly. Oversize is fed to a primary jaw crusher. Grizzly undersize and
jaw crusher product are combined and fed to open circuit secondary screening
and crushing.
Crushed fine ore is ground in a ball mill in closed circuit with a hydrocyclone.
Cyclone overflow is thickened and leached in a mechanically agitated leach tank.
Leached slurry is filtered to produce filter cake and a high-grade solution.

30. The SAG Mill
Material from the Ore Crusher is first separated and then
feed to the SAG mill. Material here is separated again and
feed back into the SAG mill or onto the Ball Mill

31. The Ball Mill

32. The Ball Mill
Inside the Ball Mill hard steel balls
grind the small rocks into powder so
that the minerals can be extracted or
leached from them by various
processes.
The lining of the Ball is of particular concern to the mill and
can be made of various materials. It is also here that large
open gears are used to turn the mill by huge electric motors
and the use of an excellent open gear lubricant such as Gear
Shield NC becomes critical to mill operation.

33. BALL MILL ELECTRIC MOTOR
Bearing Lubrication – Premium R&O 68 or 100

34. BALL MILL GEAR SETS
Lubrication – Gearshield NC

35. The Mill
It is here in the rest of the mill that the powdered rock
produced by the mill is concentrated to produce a
concentrated ore. Depending on the mine site, the ore may
be further refined to a saleable metal or transported to
another refiner for further refinement to the finished metal