How has Newtrax Technologies (Newtrax) evolved since its acquisition by Sandvik in 2019?

Newtrax was acquired by Sandvik three years ago. We remain a separate business unit providing OEM agnostic solutions to digitalize underground hard rock mines and optimize the extraction process using AI. We now also lead the initiative to connect the Sandvik fleet globally to enable Sandvik-specific equipment-related services. In terms of the corporate synergies at play, the Newtrax OptiMine collision avoidance system has the potential to eventually remove the main constraint on the growth of AutoMine automated equipment sales: their inability to co-exist with pedestrians and other vehicles. Being part of Sandvik, our solutions have evolved to be OEM grade with regards to product safety as well as to cater to everything that is more specific to battery electric vehicles in terms of battery management and coordination. Digitalization is a strong trend in the market, and Newtrax, backed by Sandvik, has become a global leader in the optimization of underground hard rock operations.

The main focus since being acquired by Sandvik has been OEM grade product safety. When you are owned by a large, publicly traded company, everything needs to be top notch. From a functionality point of view, nothing changed significantly, but we continually raise the bar to ensure a Sandvik stamp of approval.

Where do you see this relationship leading to in the long term?

As technologies and robotics progress at significant speed, the main obstacle remains that robotics are isolated, and no humans or other vehicles can operate nearby. We want to unleash the robots. One of the primary reasons behind Sandvik’s acquisition of Newtrax was to evolve the company’s collision avoidance system to a point where we can safely remove the barricades and allow robots to coexist with pedestrians and other types of traditional equipment.

Can you mention some examples of companies incorporating Newtrax technologies into their operations?

Two noteworthy large scale early adopters of our latest generation of products are Glencore’s Raglan mine in Canada and Gold Fields South Deep mine in South Africa.

How do Newtrax’s technologies help clients operate more safely and sustainably?

One of the reasons we are excited about applying digitalization and process optimization to underground mining is that the current extraction process is so inefficient. Based on the data collected so far, some operations have an opportunity to reduce waste by up to 40%. Newtrax can assist its clients in achieving the same output with less equipment simply by having better transparency, real-time control, and coordination of the underground fleet. Increasing face utilization in development heading and turning off auxiliary fans in areas without personnel to save energy are other examples of simple high-impact solutions.

What are the benefits to using Newtrax’s IoT Hub?

Our vision is to optimize the underground extraction process by digitalizing the equipment, people, and environment, and to capture this data in a way that can be used to train AI. Our IoT Hub is designed to be that repository of data. It was important for us to make the hub adaptable, since mining companies have different time usage models, and people want to configure reports in site-specific ways.

How have you seen the adoption of underground mining technology evolve in Québec?

Newtrax currently does business with essentially all underground hard rock mines in Québec, but when we started selling these kinds of technologies a decade ago, companies were not so quick to adapt. Back then, you had to evangelize the industry. There has been a demographic and mindset shift over the years, and we no longer need to convince people of the benefits of digitalization. Now, we see more demand than what we can supply.

What are Newtrax’s key goals?

We hope our investments in building a world-class supply chain will bear fruit, to alleviate some customer frustration and the impacts on our business. We are lucky to be part of Sandvik, as the company is making massive investments in inventory at a scale we would not have been able to as an independent company. Within the next two years, we hope to return to an eight-week lead time even for large volumes.