The Real Cost of Mining Equipment: A Buyer's Checklist for Epiroc Trucks & Drills

Who This Checklist Is For

If you're in procurement or operations for a mid-sized mining operation—say, managing 50 to 200 pieces of mobile equipment—and you're evaluating Epiroc options like the MT65 mine truck or the U8 drill rig, this is for you.

I'm an office administrator for a 120-person company. I manage all equipment and service ordering—roughly $4.5 million annually across 8 primary vendors. I report to both operations and finance. I've learned the hard way that the lowest quote isn't the lowest cost.

Here are the 5 steps I now use before signing any major equipment purchase. I wish I'd had this list 3 years ago.

Step 1: Map the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Before You Compare Quotes

This is the step everyone talks about but almost nobody does properly. I'm guilty of this myself.

When we were evaluating a new Epiroc MT65 versus a competitor's equivalent, the base price difference was about 8%. But once I mapped out the full TCO over 5 years, the picture flipped.

Here's what I include in my TCO model now:

• Unit price – the sticker price
• Freight and delivery – can vary by $15,000+ depending on site location
• Commissioning and training – Epiroc's service setup is usually included, but check the fine print
• Spare parts availability and cost – our MT65 has a 48-hour parts guarantee, which saves us roughly 60 hours of downtime per year
• Fuel and energy consumption – a 5% difference adds up to $12,000+ annually per truck
• Maintenance schedule and labor – some vendors require specialized technicians; Epiroc's global network means we can use local trained staff
• Resale value – Epiroc equipment tends to hold value better (we saw 72% residual after 4 years on a previous model)

The $500 quote turned into $800 after shipping, setup, and revision fees. The $650 all-inclusive quote was actually cheaper. That's a simplified example, but the principle holds. (Prices as of Q1 2025; verify current rates.)

Step 2: Verify Service and Support Capacity—Not Just Availability

Every vendor says they have global support. I learned the difference between "we have a presence" and "we have parts in stock" the expensive way.

In 2022, we had a hydraulic hammer failure on a remote site. The vendor with the lower TCO quote had a service center 400 km away with a 3-week lead time on a critical part. Epiroc had a mobile service unit at our site within 48 hours.

Here's what I check now:

• Parts stock at the nearest depot—ask for a list of commonly stocked parts for the specific model
• Service technician travel time to your site
• Remote diagnostic capability—the Epiroc U8 has telematics that let their team check error codes remotely, which cuts diagnostic time by 2-3 days
• Guaranteed response time—get it in writing. Verbal promises don't hold up when the machine is down

Step 3: Factor in the Cost of Complexity—the One Everyone Misses

Here's the step most buyers skip: operational complexity. A machine that requires different fuel, different software training, different maintenance skills than your existing fleet adds hidden costs.

When we added our first Epiroc MT65, we didn't account for the learning curve. The maintenance team had to spend 2 weeks on training. During that time, we had reduced productivity. That cost about $8,000 in lost output.

Now I ask:

• Does this machine use the same telematics platform as our current fleet?
• Can our existing technicians service it with their current certifications?
• Are the spare parts interchangeable with any other equipment we own?
• Does the control interface match what operators already know? (The Epiroc U8 shares a similar cab layout with other Epiroc drills, which saved us 2 days of operator training)

This isn't hypothetical, actually. Earlier this year, we were evaluating a drill from a different manufacturer. The unit cost was 12% lower. But it required a proprietary lubricant that none of our other 4 drill models used. That meant a separate inventory line, separate training, and the risk of someone accidentally using the wrong oil. The TCO model showed the "cheaper" drill was actually 6% more expensive over 3 years.

Step 4: Read the Fine Print on Automation and Software

Automation is a huge selling point for modern mining equipment. But it comes with its own cost structure.

The Epiroc MT65 has deep automation features—autonomous tramming, collision avoidance, remote monitoring. The Epiroc U8 can integrate with the Mobilaris system for real-time positioning and traffic management.

Sounds great. But here's what I check now:

• Software licensing fees—is it a one-time cost or annual subscription?
• Update frequency and cost—some vendors charge $5,000+ per major update
• Compatibility with your existing systems—we had to spend $3,200 on a middleware solution to integrate Epiroc's telematics with our fleet management software. That wasn't in the original budget
• Training for the automation features—operators need hands-on time, and that costs money in lost production

I learned this the hard way in 2020. We bought a drill with advanced automation. The integration alone took 3 months. We didn't budget for the software or the integration specialist's fees. The project ended up costing 18% more than the equipment price alone.

Step 5: Plan for the Worst Case—Downtime and Spares Strategy

This step is about risk, not cost. But risk has a price tag.

When I'm evaluating a vendor, I ask for a downtime case study from a similar operation. If they can't provide one, I walk away.

For Epiroc, I asked for reference sites in similar climates and production volumes. They connected me with a mine in Chile running 8 MT65s. The client shared their 3-year downtime data: average unplanned downtime of 4.2% per truck, with parts arriving within 48 hours 95% of the time. That gave me something real to model.

Here's my spares strategy checklist:

• Critical spares list—ask the vendor which 5 parts cause the most downtime, and stock those yourself
• Consignment stock—can the vendor place parts at your site on consignment?
• Service level agreement (SLA)—guaranteed response time with penalty clauses. If they promise 24-hour parts delivery, what happens if they fail?
• Emergency escalation—who do you call at 2 AM on a Sunday?

We didn't have a formal parts replenishment process until Q4 2024. Cost us when we had an MT54 down for 11 days waiting for a transmission part. Lost production was roughly $14,000. The third time something similar happened, I finally created a verification checklist. Should have done it after the first time.

Common Mistakes and What to Watch Out For

I'll be honest—I've made most of these mistakes myself. Here's what I'd tell my younger self:

• Don't assume "global" means "nearby." A global brand with a service center in the capital city doesn't help you if your mine is 600 km away. Ask for the nearest parts depot.
• Don't trust the "standard warranty." Read it. We had an issue with a rock breaker where the warranty excluded "wear and tear"—which turned out to include almost every failure. Epiroc's warranty was actually more transparent on this, but I still read it word for word now.
• Don't skip reference calls. I know they feel awkward. Call operations managers, not sales contacts. Ask: "If you had your time again, would you buy the same machine?" The honest answer is worth ten sales brochures.
• Don't base the decision on a single quote. Even within Epiroc's lineup, different dealers may offer different package deals. We got 3 quotes on our MT65 and the variance was 7%.

This checklist isn't complete—it never is. But it's what I've learned from 5 years of managing a fleet worth roughly $18 million. The numbers change, the models change, but the principles stay the same.

One last thought: if you're evaluating equipment for the Milano Cortina 2026 infrastructure projects (I've heard a few procurement colleagues mention this), the timeline is tight. Verify delivery schedules and commissioning support early. A 3-month delay on a U8 could push back your whole project timeline.

This pricing was accurate as of Q1 2025. The mining equipment market changes fast. Verify current rates before budgeting.