Fuel consumption in mining refers to the total volume or mass of diesel fuel, petrol, liquefied natural gas (LNG), or other fuel types consumed by mobile equipment, fixed plant, and power generation facilities over a defined period. It is one of the largest and most closely monitored variable operating cost items in mining operations across bauxite, gold, iron ore, and diamond sectors. Fuel costs typically represent 20–35% of total operating costs at large open pit operations, making fuel consumption management a critical lever for cost control and profitability.
In open pit mining, the primary consumers of diesel fuel are the haul truck fleet, which alone may account for 50–70% of total site diesel consumption. Fuel consumption of a haul truck is strongly influenced by payload weight, haul road gradient, haul distance, road condition, tyre pressure, ambient temperature, equipment age and mechanical condition, and operator behavior. Typical fuel consumption rates for large mining haul trucks (e.g., Caterpillar 793 or Komatsu 830E with payload capacities of 225–290 tonnes) range from 120 to 250 liters per hour under loaded haul conditions. Drills, excavators, loaders, ancillary vehicles, and fixed plant (generators, pumps, compressors) add further significant contributions to total site fuel consumption.
Fuel consumption tracking in modern mining relies on on-board fuel management systems (flow meters, GPS-linked data loggers), which are integrated with fleet management software (e.g., Modular Mining's DISPATCH, Wenco, or Hexagon's Jigsaw) to provide real-time and historical consumption data by machine, shift, operator, and process area. Key performance indicators include liters per hour (L/hr), liters per tonne (L/t), and liters per tonne-kilometer (L/t-km).
Mining companies also monitor fuel consumption for greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting purposes, as diesel combustion is the dominant source of Scope 1 CO₂ equivalent emissions at most open pit mines. Fuel consumption reduction strategies include haul road improvement and maintenance, payload optimization, equipment right-sizing, driver/operator behavior training, introduction of autonomous haulage systems (AHS), and the progressive transition to battery-electric or hydrogen-powered mining equipment.