DISCIPLINES
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
The maintenance of equipment is vital to mining and mineral processing operations, which tend to be asset-intensive, using large and expensive equipment. Maintenance is often one of the largest costs of a mining operation. The maintenance department of a mining operation is often run by a mechanical or electrical engineer. Other engineers and technicians assist in the technical supervision and planning maintenance work.
Maintenance includes not only the repair of machinery but also preventative maintenance, to ensure that needed repairs are made before a breakdown can occur. This requires careful study to determine what frequency of preventative maintenance work is needed on each machine and how this work can be arranged to cause the least delay to mine and mill operators. The engineers of the plant are often required to design changes or additions to the surface plant when refining processes are changed or when additional production capacity is needed. As part of this design work, cost estimates are prepared and studies made of alternative methods and equipment types.