Growth, digitalization and sustainability
Shift to growth
Solid market demand translated into another year of growth for Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions and we are on track to achieve our CAGR growth target of 10 percent for 2019–2025. We made good progress in the strategic priority areas of electrification, automation and digitalization, and also moved closer to our target of doubling our surface mining revenue from 2022 by 2028.
During 2024, Sandvik acquired Universal Field Robots (UFR), a fast-growing Australia-based company that offers interoperable autonomous solutions for underground and surface applications. The acquisition complements our leading autonomous platform AutoMine®, and strengthens our capability to integrate third-party equipment, providing customers with opportunities to optimize the performance of their mining equipment fleets.
Innovation and close customer collaboration are key to maintaining strong market positions. Sandvik is a clear market leader in underground automation and we launched a large number of innovations during the year. Sandvik secured several significant orders for the autonomous AutoMine® platform during the year.
We enhanced our surface mining offering with the introduction of new rotary drill rigs and automation capabilities. The drill rig, Sandvik® DR416iE, for example, is the fourth and largest electrified rig in our intelligent rotary blasthole drill range. Product development and other targeted efforts led to a stronger position within surface mining.
Sandvik addresses different customer needs in the shift towards electrification in mining. During the year, we introduced a new trolley solution for battery-electric (BEV) trucks designed for large fleets with predictable traffic and long ramps. We also introduced LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery technology for our BEV underground drills and an upgraded LFP battery for trucks and loaders with a 36 percent longer run time compared to the previous version.
Digital shift
Digitalization plays a critical role in enhancing productivity and safety in mining operations. Sandvik offers an integrated digital platform that supports customer needs across the value chain, allowing for data feedback and automated end-to-end process optimization. In 2024, the Digital Mining Technologies division achieved solid growth, and mine-planning software from Sandvik-owned Deswik gained increased traction from surface mining customers. Mine optimization software provider Polymathian, acquired in 2023, has been fully integrated with Deswik, completing the feedback loop from mining production to planning. OptiMine®, our real-time monitoring platform, which includes solutions for collision avoidance, was enhanced with sensors for mine personnel.
Sandvik continued to expand its Remote Monitoring Service (RMS), a suite of advanced digital services that can translate vast amounts of data from underground mining equipment into actionable recommendations. The solution helps customers reduce operating costs and improve productivity and sustainability. In 2024, mining customer Barrick decided to roll out RMS to its entire global underground fleet of more than 200 trucks, loaders and drill rigs.
During the year, we launched My Sandvik Onsite, a new solution for optimization of surface drilling. The system supports wireless drill-plan transfer and is easily integrated into any surface mining system.
We also partnered with Ambra Solutions, a leading provider of private LTE/5G wireless network industrial telecommunications, to strengthen our customer offering. This collaboration aims to transform communication capabilities tailored for our product families for the AutoMine® platform. The initiative aims to enhance efficiency and safety in underground mining operations by addressing critical communications challenges.
Sustainability shift
Our battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) increase our customers’ productivity, while reducing their environmental impact, and help mining customers to reach their sustainability targets. This is becoming increasingly important as sustainability data, the ability to measure emissions or circularity, for example, is a requirement in all tender processes.
Digitalization and automation is expected to become even more vital in solving the industry’s challenges of safety, productivity and profitability. Sandvik introduced a number of solutions that contribute to increased uptime and productivity, such as AutoMine® Lifecycle Support Solutions, a scalable service designed to ensure technology support for customers, and AutoMine® Interoperable ACS through which a mixed fleet of equipment can be managed with one seamless safety system.
We also aim to improve sustainability in our own operations, for example through carbide recycling programs, recycling of packaging, waste sorting, and increased use of renewable energy.