This publication describes the depreciation cost of equipment when crushing 1,000 tonnes of quartz (2026 – 12.8–17.4 thousand roubles), influencing factors, methods for reducing costs by 18–22%, and recommendations for mining enterprises.
This publication sets out the cost of equipment wear and tear involved in crushing 1,000 tonnes of quartz, systematising the key influencing factors and current market indicators to help mining companies optimise their production costs.
Wear caused by crushing quartz is directly dependent on the mineral’s hardness, which reaches 7 on the Mohs scale; this accelerates the abrasive wear of the crushers’ working parts: plates, hammers and cones. Additional factors include the particle size distribution of the feed material, the equipment’s operating load, and the quality of the alloys used for the components.
For the current year 2026, the average wear cost for standard crushing of quartz to a 0–20 mm fraction ranges from 12,800 to 17,400 Russian roubles per 1,000 tonnes of finished product. The variation in these figures is due to differences in the class of equipment used: for jaw crushers, the figure is at the lower end of the range, whilst for hammer crushers, it is at the upper end.
Optimising the feed rate, using components made from high-chromium alloys and carrying out timely, scheduled replacement of worn parts make it possible to reduce specific wear costs by 18–22% without compromising the crushing line’s productivity. An additional benefit is achieved by pre-classifying the raw material by particle size before feeding it into the crusher.
Mining and processing companies are advised to monitor the wear rate of working parts on a quarterly basis, tailor maintenance plans to the specific characteristics of the quartz feedstock being processed, and compare wear rates across different types of equipment in order to select the most cost-effective line configuration.
