What is Maintenance and Civil Works for the Mining Sector?
The mining sector demands infrastructure capable of withstanding the planet's most severe operating conditions: constant abrasion, rockfall impacts, spills of acidic or alkaline chemical reagents, extreme humidity, mechanical vibrations, and live loads of hundreds of tons.
At SINE México, industrial maintenance and civil works for mining are not conventional masonry or painting tasks; they represent surface and structural engineering solutions designed under international standards to ensure the operational continuity of processing plants, heavy equipment maintenance workshops (jumbos, scoops, low-profile trucks), metallurgical laboratories, and reagent storage areas.
Our comprehensive services include:
- High-resistance industrial floors: Polymeric systems designed to withstand track and giant tire traffic.
- Corrosion and wear protection: Polymeric and metallurgical coatings for hoppers, flotation cells, and thickeners.
- Specialized civil works: Deep foundations, secondary containment dikes, and structural concrete repair.
- Structural assembly and welding: Fabrication and repair of steel structures under AWS code.
- Industrial electricity: Conduits, substations, and grounding systems for wet and classified environments.
When is it needed?
A maintenance manager or plant superintendent must intervene immediately when the following warning signs appear in mining infrastructure:
- Detachment and potholes in workshops: Deep cracks and concrete spalling in maintenance bays due to tool impact and machinery traffic.
- Visible chemical attack: Concrete corrosion and rebar exposure in leaching areas, flotation cells, or reagent warehouses.
- Severe abrasion wear: Loss of thickness in transfer hoppers, conduits, and ore chutes.
- Leveling failures in foundations: Excessive vibration or misalignment of motors, ball/rod mills, or crushers.
- Seepage in containment dikes: Loss of impermeability in fuel or chemical reagent storage dikes, violating environmental regulations.
- Safety risks due to slippery floors: Accumulation of sludge, oils, and water causing personnel falls and mobile equipment skids.
Problems it solves
Timely intervention by SINE México eliminates critical risks that directly impact the cost per ton processed:
- Unscheduled shutdowns: We prevent production line shutdowns due to structural failures in foundations or feed hoppers.
- Environmental and safety sanctions: We prevent PROFEPA fines or STPS closures through proper waterproofing of containment dikes (NOM-006-STPS) and repair of safe pedestrian walkways.
- Structural concrete degradation: We stop carbonation and sulfate attack that compromise the stability of milling and flotation buildings.
- Excessive reactive maintenance costs: Replacing a destroyed concrete floor is up to 300% more expensive than preventively protecting it with a high-performance cementitious urethane or epoxy system.
Benefits for your Mining Unit
- Increased asset lifespan: We extend the durability of concrete and steel structures exposed to weather and chemical agents for up to 15 to 20 years.
- Measurable Return on Investment (ROI): Drastic reduction in floor cleaning and maintenance times, improving light reflectivity and decreasing tire wear on yard equipment.
- Operational Safety (Zero Accidents): Floors with customized anti-slip textures (anchor profile with silica sand or corundum) that maintain their grip even when saturated with oil or water.
- Full regulatory compliance: We ensure that your facilities pass ISO 14001, ISO 45001 certification audits and STPS inspections without observations.
Available Systems and Solutions
| System / Solution | Recommended Thickness | Compressive Strength | Chemical Resistance | Curing Time (Heavy Traffic) | Typical Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-Load Epoxy Mortar | 6.0 - 10.0 mm | > 850 kg/cm² | High (Oils, greases, fuels) | 48 - 72 hours | Heavy equipment workshop bays, spare parts warehouses. |
| Cementitious Urethane (Screed) | 6.0 - 9.0 mm | > 600 kg/cm² | Excellent (Acids, bases and thermal shock) | 24 hours | Processing plants, leaching areas, chemical laboratories. |
| Novolac Epoxy | 1.5 - 3.0 mm | > 750 kg/cm² | Extreme (Concentrated sulfuric acid, solvents) | 36 - 48 hours | Secondary containment dikes, reagent rooms. |
| Polymeric Ceramic Coating | 1.0 - 2.0 mm | N/A (High Shore D hardness) | Excellent against wet/dry abrasion | 24 hours | Chutes, transfer hoppers, slurry pump casings. |
| Hydroactive Polyurethane Injection | N/A | N/A | Good | Immediate (Minutes) | Sealing of water leaks in tunnels and retaining walls. |
Cutting-Edge Materials and Technologies
We do not improvise with generic brands. At SINE México we formulate solutions using chemical technology from global leaders:
- Sika (Sikafloor / SikaGard): Cementitious urethane systems (Sikafloor PurCem) for maximum impact and thermal shock resistance, and protective coatings for metal structures.
- Sherwin-Williams (General Polymers / Macropoxy): High-solids epoxy coatings and Novolac systems for aggressive chemical containment.
- Devcon / Belzona: Ceramic-filled compounds for the reconstruction and protection of equipment exposed to extreme abrasion and cavitation.
- BASF / Master Builders Solutions: Fast-setting and high early strength structural repair mortars to minimize downtime.
Applicable Regulations and Standards
Our interventions are designed and executed under strict compliance with national and international regulatory frameworks:
- NOM-023-STPS: Safety and health conditions in open-pit and underground mining operations.
- NOM-001-SEDE: Electrical installations (used for conduits and panels in classified areas of process plants).
- ACI 302.1R / ACI 360R: American Concrete Institute guides for the preparation, design, and placement of industrial concrete floors.
- ASTM D4541: Standard test method for pull-off adhesion testing of coatings on concrete and steel.
- ICRI (International Concrete Repair Institute): Guidelines for surface preparation profile selection (CSP 1 to 10).
Our Work Process (SINE)
- Field Technical Assessment: We visit your mining site to perform moisture testing (ASTM F1869 / F2170), concrete hardness testing (rebound hammer), and contaminant detection.
- Specification Engineering: We develop a tailored technical proposal, selecting the optimal chemistry and thickness for the work area.
- Mechanical Surface Preparation: The most critical step. We use closed-circuit shot blasters (shotblasting), scarifiers, and diamond grinders to open concrete pores and remove contaminated concrete (meeting ICRI CSP profiles).
- System Application: We execute the application of primers, base coats, wear courses, and sealers under controlled temperature and dew point conditions.
- Quality Control (QA/QC): We perform wet/dry film thickness testing, pull-off adhesion tests, and flatness verification.
- Delivery and Release: Handover of the clean area, with sealed joint layouts and delivery of the quality dossier including technical data sheets and warranty certificates.
Common Hiring Mistakes (Avoid Them with SINE)
- Omitting mechanical preparation: Applying resins over smooth or oil-contaminated concrete results in coating delamination within a few months.
- Specifying insufficient thicknesses: Using thin-coat epoxy paints (thin-mil paints) in areas with forklift or front loader traffic.
- Ignoring subsoil moisture: Failing to measure the concrete's moisture vapor emission rate causes blistering (osmosis) of the polymer floor.
- Hiring personnel without mining experience: General contracting companies that do not understand mining safety standards (PPE, DC-3, AST) cause administrative delays and accident risks.
SINE Mexico Warranty
All our projects in the mining sector come with a written warranty that backs both SINE's specialized workmanship and materials from leading manufacturers. We offer extended warranty policies and annual preventive maintenance contracts to ensure your facilities maintain their operational performance year after year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of flooring is suitable for a heavy equipment maintenance shop in mining?
For heavy equipment workshops (such as haul trucks or power shovels), we recommend a high-performance epoxy mortar or cementitious urethane system with thicknesses ranging from 6 mm to 9 mm, reinforced with quartz or corundum aggregates. These systems withstand compressive loads exceeding 800 kg/cm², resist impacts from heavy tools, and tolerate constant spills of oils, grease, fuels, and hydraulic fluids without degrading.
How do you guarantee coating adhesion on oil-contaminated concrete floors?
At SINE México, we do not apply coatings over contaminated concrete. We perform deep mechanical surface preparation via scarifying (CSP 5-6) or diamond grinding, followed by a specialized chemical degreasing treatment and the application of moisture-barrier and oil-tolerant epoxy primers, ensuring an adhesion strength that exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete itself (minimum 250 psi per ASTM D4541).
What safety regulations does your personnel follow when working inside mining facilities?
Our personnel operate under the guidelines of NOM-023-STPS (Work in underground and open-pit mines) and hold valid DC-3 certifications for work at heights, confined spaces, hot work (cutting and welding), and electrical safety. In addition, we strictly align with the internal health, safety, and environment (HSE) protocols of each mining unit, including the use of specific PPE, job safety analysis (AST), and daily work permits.
Do you perform structural repair work on hoppers and transfer chutes?
Yes, we perform structural reconstruction and application of extreme abrasion-resistant coatings on hoppers, silos, and transfer chutes. We use wear plates and specialized welding with hardfacing electrodes, as well as ceramic-filled epoxy systems (Devcon polymeric ceramics or similar) to mitigate wear from ore flow.
Request your quote
Optimize the safety and service life of your mining infrastructure with the industrial maintenance experts of Northern Mexico.
- Phone / WhatsApp: +52 871 228 3838
- Email: ventas@sinemantenimiento.com
- Head Office: Torreón, Coahuila.
- Branches: Saltillo, Coahuila | Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
Contact us today to schedule a complimentary technical diagnostic visit at your mining facility.