Mining Vehicle & Underground Equipment worked example

Downtime Cost at 86% share of capacity genuinely lost: a worked example in mining vehicle & underground equipment

This scenario runs the downtime cost calculation on the strong side: 86% share of capacity genuinely lost, with every other input held at its documented default. A mine maintenance planner quantifying the cost of an unplanned haul-truck stoppage to justify a spares or standby strategy.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Equipment downtime duration: 16 hr (unchanged)
  • Lost contribution margin per production hour: 1,800 $/hr (unchanged)
  • Share of capacity genuinely lost: 86 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 75)
  • Mobilization and repair flat cost: 5,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Downtime cost = lost hours x margin per hour x capacity-lost % + mobilization) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 29,768 $ for total downtime cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,861 $ / piece for downtime cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 24,768 $ for variable downtime cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 5,000 $ for fixed downtime cost adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share of capacity genuinely lost sits at 75% and the headline result is 26,600 $, this scenario comes in 11.91% above the baseline at 29,768 $.
  • Use it to value an unplanned stoppage when building a business case for reliability spend, spares, or standby equipment. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total downtime cost: 29,768 $ (headline result)
  • Downtime cost per unit: 1,861 $ / piece
  • Variable downtime cost: 24,768 $
  • Fixed downtime cost adder: 5,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Downtime Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.