The global mining industry is currently grappling with one of the most significant energy challenges in recent history.
As of March 2026, geopolitical tensions and the conflict involving Iran have sent shockwaves through the energy market, with Brent crude prices surging past $100 per barrel. With the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz—a corridor for 20% of the world’s oil—global fuel prices have increased by over 50% in a matter of weeks. A study by Wood Mackenzie/BMO, outlined on Mining.com shows the significance of the impact with mining costs increasing overall by 2-4.2% for every 10% rise in oil prices. As the article summarises: “mining costs could climb roughly 20% for iron ore, 16% for copper and 9% for gold”.
With fuel often making up between 10% and 25% of overall operating costs for mining operations, the current price hikes present a potentially huge risk to many sites. This situation has the potential to eliminate profit margins and destabilize entire supply chains, affecting everything from spare parts procurement to the delivery of blasting materials. This crisis is not limited to regional fuel price fluctuations; it will also impact broader supply chains and even the logistics of personnel transport to and from operational sites.
At MTS, we believe that the mining technology you already possess often offers relief to unexpected challenges, such as the current high cost of fuel. Our philosophy is centred on helping you manage and mitigate this situation effectively. We always advocate for adopting new or improved technology, but starting with an available solution now, rather than holding out for a perfect one, can deliver results in weeks instead of months. This approach also avoids the steep costs that might deter operations facing a cash crunch. Below are five key strategies for leveraging your existing mining technology to significantly reduce fuel consumption and navigate these difficult times.
1. Strictly Monitor Fuel Idle
A single mining truck can burn hundreds of liters of fuel unnecessarily every day just by idling. Many mines fail to action this either due to misplaced beliefs that there is no possible alternative to idling trucks over shift change due to high/low ambient temperatures or simply not understanding that it is possible to monitor operators who do so relatively easily. By leveraging your VIMS or VHMS data, you can monitor idle times by individual operators and take targeted action. Our advice? Work with the fuel data you have to get it into a dashboard. Tie it with your operators and you should start to easily pin point offenders.
Pro Tip: As a rule of thumb, if your “VIMS Idle” exceeds 25%, your operation is likely idling too much.
2. Optimize Haul Roads to Reduce “Burn”
The quality of your haul roads directly impacts fuel efficiency. Higher rolling resistance means your engines have to work harder, consuming more diesel for every meter traveled. Using equipment telemetry and tools like Haul Road Explorer, you can identify high-resistance areas and prioritize maintenance where it will most effectively reduce fuel burn.
On a related topic, if the situation continues it’s quite possible that tyre costs, replacement components etc are all going to soar in price. So the better the condition of your haul roads, the better positioned you are to manage the situation as best as possible.
3. Smart Equipment Allocation
Don’t run equipment just because you have the operators available. In a high-cost environment, efficiency is king. By integrating your Mine Plan with Short Interval Control (SIC), you can ensure that only the truly necessary equipment—both core load-and-haul and auxiliary units—is active at any given time. Work hard to ensure that dispatchers are empowered to make tough decisions including shutting down trucks, shovels and moving equipment.
4. Tap Into Auxiliary Equipment Data
Often, focus is placed solely on the primary haul fleet, but dozers and other auxiliary equipment are major fuel consumers. Use rich and really often overlooked datasets from systems such as Cat MineStar Terrain and VisionLink to monitor productivity. This allows you to identify and correct “air blading” or other non-productive behaviors that drain fuel without moving dirt. If this is done properly, it can uncover some shocking truths; and when tied to operators or crews and geolocations it can reduce unnecessary fuel burn.
5. Leverage Asset Health for Peak Efficiency
Marginally underperforming equipment can be a silent profit killer. Issues like dodgy injectors, nearly plugged filters or failing fuel pumps might not be obvious to an operator, but the cumulative impact on fuel consumption over weeks is massive. By proactively monitoring sensor data and asset health, you can ensure every drop of fuel is converted into productive work.
Is your operation ready to fight back against rising energy costs?
At MTS, we specialise in helping mines unlock the full potential of their technology. From data integration to operational coaching, we ensure your tech stack is working as hard as you are to protect your bottom line.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you manage and reduce your fuel consumption.
