In the oil sands industry a single ultra-class shovel tip can lose more than 35kg of steel mass in one operating day. Equipment downtime is significantly increased with frequent stoppages to replace worn shovel teeth. This leads to a substantial loss in shovel availability and utilization, as well as a considerable increase in consumable cost.This paper develops a means to predict the wear performance of shovel tips based on field data through the use of specific energy (Es), which is defined as the friction energy required to cause a unit volume loss of material (Nm/m3). A modified rubber wheel abrasion test (similar to ASTM-G65) is presented for the determination of Es. Results show that it is possible to predict the performance of shovel tips. It is also found that Es provides an index to quantify the resistance of wear materials to abrasion under specific abrasive conditions.