Normet SmartDrive® is a modular battery electric vehicle (BEV) architecture designed to optimise energy in mining and tunnelling activities, says Puneet Narula, General Manager – Equipment Sales, Normet India.

How is Normet enabling a digital revolution in mining and tunnelling?
Normet is a fast-growing and innovative technology company that has pledged to spearhead the much-needed digital revolution in the underground infrastructure development space. We provide highly digitised and sustainable underground mining and tunnelling solutions to assist our customers in building safe and durable underground structures. We are focused on driving innovation by introducing sophisticated digital tools like SmartDrive®, SmartScan, and SmartSpray to the underground operations. With our SmartScan 3D laser scanning technology and SmartSpray, we have taken the first steps toward automating the concrete spraying process Given our global experience of 60 years, we are the pioneers of transforming mining operations to align with a digital-first future and drive the industry’s overall productivity.

How is Normet driving sustainable development with its product offerings?
Normet has ingrained the idea of sustainable development in its core principles. With a mission to provide a safe and sustainable future to the next generation, we continue to add to our portfolio of eco-compatible mining and tunnelling solutions. Normet’s new SmartDrive® fully electric battery-operated vehicle illustrates our commitment to its sustainable development and decarbonisation agenda. The SmartDrive® equipment is a one-of-a-kind vehicle that provides sustainable solutions for underground operation needs and is emission-free. To drive sustainable solutions, Normet also offers remanufacturing services for customers’ equipment, targeted to extend the life of the equipment.

Could you share with us more about Normet’s SmartDrive?
Normet SmartDrive® is a modular battery electric vehicle (BEV) architecture designed to optimise energy consumption and performance in underground mining and tunnelling applications. This equipment enables higher productivity, lower operating costs and, most importantly – zero local emissions.

“As front runners to enable ‘Green Mining’, we are the first to bring Battery Electric Equipment to India’s Underground Mines at Hindustan Zinc”.

Which technology is incorporated into your batteries to offer best-in-class performance?
There are two different SmartDrive architectures; Mining machines’ redundant BEV architecture is optimised for underground mining use and longer tramming, and tunnelling machines’ BEV
architecture is optimised for tunnelling and shorter tramming distances. Normet SmartDrive® equipment’s batteries can be charged at any time from typical underground AC sockets. Normet equipment is fully compatible with the universal CCS fast charging standard.