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More than just oil: Oil companies offer a range of products and services for the benefit of the mining industry.

Article Excerpt
Most of the major oil companies have, for a long time, been involved in the mining sector. Not only by owning and managing mining operations - almost all of which they have recently sold - but also by offering a range of solutions to meet the needs of the sector as well as associated equipment manufacturers.

Traditionally, the range of products have covered oils (for diesel engines, hydraulic, transmission, gear and compressor use amongst others), greases, detergents, coolants and fuels. Lately, the solutions that these companies offer have become more specialised: not only by developing technologically advanced and specialised lubrication products but also by offering partnerships that deliver a more comprehensive and sophisticated service for the maintenance and conditioning monitoring tasks. Indeed, sometimes a whole team is deployed to deliver this lubrication expertise.

As Chevron states, today's rapidly changing mining business demands a value-added relationship with a lubrication company. Virtually every part of the mining process has been impacted by either sophisticated equipment design, cost-saving requirements or stringent government regulations. The diesel engine oil market is impacted by regulatory changes in emissions standards world-wide requiring OEMs and oil suppliers to respectively alter diesel engine designs and upgrade existing lubrication formulas. (Globally, maximum levels of emissions are being steadily lowered, which in turn is influencing new engine designs. For instance, Caterpillar has recently developed new engine technology for mining and construction machinery in order to comply with the strict emissions regulations set by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board and the European Commission, MM, December 2001, p. 312). These alterations add to any oil manufacturer's challenge in designing products with universal mar ket appeal and common lubricant performance.

However, there is also the environmental aspect to consider. A great amount of lubricant is used around the world (according to SKF, in 1995 about 37 Mt of lubricant was used worldwide with a estimated 320% finding its way back into the environment unchanged). Some of this will degrade but there are potential dangers to the environment, such as bioaccumulation and biocidal effects. Mining companies, oil companies producing lubricants and other suppliers are putting a big effort into greening the products the industry has to use. They are also improving their methods of managing the waste hydrocarbon products.

From extraction to processing to transportation of mined material, maintenance managers must have dependable lubrication that optimises equipment performance, extends equipment life, minimises downtime, contains costs and has less impact on the environment.

Castrol - delivering experience

Based in Swindon, UK, Castrol Industrial (www.castrolindustrial.com) is part of Castrol Limited, an experienced lubrication specialist (the company celebrated its 100th anniversary last year). This world-wide lubricants business became part of BP Amoco after the latter's successful cash offer for parent company Burmah Castrol.

Before the acquisition, BP Amoco already offered a range of products and services for the mining and extraction industries. One of these products is Energrease Hydrotac, a high performance, lithium soap-based grease with superior water resistant properties...

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