Normet has continued its investments in electrification technology with an agreement to become a minority shareholder of Finland-based startup Lekatech.

Since 2018, Normet has collaborated with Lekatech, a company that believes that direct electric drive is the future in hammering. Given the successful collaboration in electric hammer field tests between the companies, Normet has become a minority shareholder in the company.

The investment supports continued growth of Lekatech and commercialisation of its groundbreaking fully-electric hammers, Normet said.

Lekatech CEO, Antti Anttila, said: “Our goal is to zero out the CO2 emissions of impact hammers used in mining and construction industry.”

Lekatech’s ambition supports Normet’s continued progress in mining electrification. The fully-electric hammer, combined with Normet SmartDrive® battery-electric architecture, will shape the future of underground scaling and breaking, the company says.

Samu Kukkonen, Technology Director at Normet, said: “Lekatech’s technology enables a quantum leap in hammering energy efficiency and impact performance. The hammer being a digital platform enables intelligent control features that just were not possible before.”

Lekatech’s fully-electric hammer is up to 60% more efficient than a conventional hydraulic hammer providing significant energy savings while doubling impact force, the company claims. Fully-electric hammer technology also enables continuous digital development.

Tuomo Peltola, Founder of Lekatech, added: “Cooperation with Normet has been natural from the beginning. Normet really understands how to introduce high technologies to global market. I appreciate Normet’s practical and entrepreneurial culture and solid technical know-how. Normet is committed to being a technology leader in its own area of expertise.”