Selling to Mining & Aggregates
US mining MRO spend ~$15-20B annually across ~13,000 active mines and quarries. A single large open-pit mine can spend $30M-$80M/year on parts, lubricants, ground-engaging tools, and consumables. Aggregates mid-market is the sweet spot for distributor reps.
60-120 days for consumables and chemistry trial-to-PO at the site level; 6-18 months for corporate-level supply contracts at the major mining companies; same-day for emergency parts when production is down
$10K-$100K initial trial conversion at site level; $250K-$5M+ annual recurring per site once approved-vendor status earned; corporate enterprise contracts at majors $5M-$50M+ multi-year
Sub-segments inside Mining & Aggregates
Surface Mining / Open-Pit
100-2,000+ employees per site. Largest equipment in the world — 400-ton CAT 797F haul trucks, P&H 4100 electric shovels, draglines weighing 14,000+ tons.
The biggest MRO consumers on earth. A single haul truck tire is $50K+. Daily fuel burn per site can hit 100,000+ gallons. Maintenance shop is the size of a small factory.
Underground Mining (Coal & Metal)
200-1,500 employees per site. Continuous miners, longwall systems, roof bolters, scoops, shuttle cars.
MSHA inspector-intensive. Methane and coal dust regulations brutal. Confined space chemistry — every product must meet underground use standards. Permissible electrical equipment only.
Quarries & Aggregates (Sand, Gravel, Limestone, Granite)
20-200 employees per site. Smaller operations than metal mines but high site count — 9,000+ aggregate sites in US.
Construction-driven demand cycle. Crushers, screens, conveyors, wheel loaders, articulated trucks. RCS (silica) compliance is the #1 regulatory pressure since the 2016 OSHA standard tightened.
Coal Mining (Surface & Underground)
Declining sub-segment but still 40,000+ US miners. Concentrated in Wyoming Powder River Basin (surface) and Appalachia (underground).
Workforce aging fast. Black lung resurgence has put silica/coal dust under intense MSHA scrutiny. Mines closing means consolidation buying — corporate procurement at Peabody, Arch, Alpha controls the spend.
Metal Mining (Copper, Gold, Iron, Lithium, Rare Earths)
Largest CapEx mines in the world. Single-site investments of $1B-$10B+ for new copper or lithium operations.
Growing fast — EV battery supply chain driving lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earth investment. New US mines opening for the first time in 30 years (Thacker Pass lithium, Resolution Copper). Long permitting timelines.
Industrial Minerals (Potash, Salt, Frac Sand, Trona)
50-500 employees per site. Specialty operations — frac sand mines in Wisconsin, potash in New Mexico, trona in Wyoming.
Frac sand demand tied directly to oil & gas drilling cycle. Potash tied to ag commodity prices. These mines run lean and react fast to commodity swings.
Key personas you'll meet
5 researched personas for Mining & Aggregates. Each one carries its own vocabulary, pain-point ranking, and discovery question bank — used to make every brief persona-specific.