SK Godelius has officially inaugurated its office in Northern Ontario in January 2021, within the NORCAT Underground Centre, located in Sudbury. The NORCAT Underground Centre provides SK Godelius with the valuable opportunity to test and evaluate emerging technologies in an operating mine.
SK Godelius, founded in 2011, opened its first Canadian office in Toronto in 2020, and NORCAT has played an essential role in supporting SK Godelius to expand its business to Northern Ontario. One of NORCAT’s core business mandates is to work with community partners to help start and accelerate innovative companies’ growth. SK Godelius felt entirely encouraged to select the Northern Ontario market to establish the company, considering its relevance in the Canadian mining market.
“We are pleased to welcome SK Godelius to the NORCAT Underground Centre. With their expansion to Sudbury, we have not only validated the critical role NORCAT plays to assist technology companies grow their business, but also we have further demonstrated the vibrancy of the Canadian mining technology cluster rooted in Northern Ontario” cited Don Duval, CEO of NORCAT.
SK Godelius has developed and implemented several teleoperated systems and robotics solutions in the mining industry, like the remote operation of bucketwheels for Codelco at Chuquicamata mine site; stackers for Codelco at Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mine site and for BHP at Spence mine site; and spreaders for Codelco at Gabriela Mistral mine site, all of them located in Chile. It has created a suite of elements for ENAEX for the remote operation of blasting, such as the explosives handler robot Robominer® and a teleoperated truck for the transport, preparation and filing of explosives. The Godelius X robot, a multipurpose robotic platform developed to address specific mining challenges, is also part of SK Godelius’ portfolio.
“With the emergence of teleoperated or autonomous vehicles, machines, robots, a new operating paradigm is being consolidated in global mining. To make it possible, multiple technological innovations of the fourth industrial revolution converge: SK Godelius works at the heart of these changes. Relying on an underground mine like NORCAT’s is a remarkable contribution that will allow us to show in situ that these solutions are available, here, and now” said Fernando Bracco, CEO and Founder of the company.
SK Godelius also offers to its customers solutions ‘as a service’ model. Through the Godelius NOC, a remote management and monitoring centre, the company presents to the market a new form of monitoring systems and operations safely.
“Although the pandemic has imposed some challenges in our expansion plan, we are optimistic about 2021 and the following years. There is room for tech companies in the Canadian market, especially for developing solutions to minimise people’s life-risk, reduce the environment-risk of mining operations, and increase productivity,” stated Rafaela Lazzari Pape, Marketing Manager at SK Godelius.
Originally from Chile, SK Godelius was founded in 2011 and is specialised in developing innovative forms of remote interaction for machines, vehicles, robots, and processes of the mining industry. It is part of Sigdo Koppers Group, one of the most relevant Chilean conglomerates with operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The Sigdo Koppers Group is a global player in blasting services, grinding media, engineering and construction, and logistics.