Mobil Delvac™: The proof is in the polishing pond*

Mining is all about getting to the bottom of things, and that’s what drives our team of experts. From Quebec to Peru to Minnesota, the Mobil Delvac™ team has seen every challenge a mine can come up with — and already found the solution twice over. To celebrate one hundred years of service, we compiled some of our favorite stories below to prove one thing: no matter how deep you dig, there’s always more to be found.

Digging up an annual savings of $96,209

Mamut Peru SAC utilizes a fleet of Actros Mercedes Benz trucks — and experiencing increased production and demand, they realized they needed a creative way to improve their equipment availability… while simultaneously reducing operating costs. Luckily, this challenge was right up our ExxonMobil engineers’ alley.

We collaborated with NOROIL Energy AS, one of our authorized distributors, and quickly came up with a solution: A Mobil™ Lubricant Analysis. By analyzing the lifeblood of their machines on a regular basis, we were able to provide specific support for each machine, catching challenges before they blossomed into problems and extending oil drains where possible. The benefit of all that increased equipment availability, reduced operational costs and minimized waste disposal was an astounding $96,209 per year.* 

Hitting Paydirt with 50% improved product application

The Marcy Ball mine in Minnesota, USA had an excellent team and topnotch equipment — but they just couldn’t figure out why some of the open gears in its mill were underperforming. They called up the Mobil™ Engineering team to conduct a complete inspection of the entire lubricant system to see if they could blaze a clear path forward.

Unsurprisingly, they did: our experts recommended switching to a higher-performing lubricant with ultra-high viscosity and non-residual, non-asphaltic properties to avoid root pack and wear spray in these components. After implementing these changes, the mine reported a reduction in pinion wear (on track to extend pinion life), reduced gear face temperatures, and 50% reduction in lubricant consumption.*

Drilling into performance for $350,000 in savings

ArcelorMittal is the world’s largest integrated steel and mining company and supplies its Caterpillar 793 trucks with Mobil Delvac™ 1300 Super 15W-40 diesel engine oil, and for a long time, it’s lubrication process was simple: Every 500 hours, the mine took the trucks out of service for 24 hours to perform maintenance and change oil. 

Naturally, this was eating into their bottom line, so they contacted the experts at Imperial Oil (an ExxonMobil subsidiary) to discuss solutions.

After a full evaluation, our experts identified room for improvement: Implementing an oil analysis program. After conducting routine analysis of small samples of oil — requiring only minimal time and effort from their on-site experts — ArcelorMittal discovered that they could extend that 500-hour interval to 750, 1,000, and in some cases even 1,100 hours of service. Overall, they averaged a 50% increase in ODIs for their machines, a savings in time and product amounting to an extra $350,000 every year.*

*Actual results may vary depending upon the type of equipment used and its maintenance, operating conditions and environment, and any prior lubricant used.