The story originally stated that Deswik was purchased for approximately $7 million. The actual purchase price was undisclosed, with that figure actually referring to costs related to the transaction. We apologize for the error.

On Dec. 2, global engineering group Sandvik announced an agreement to acquire Deswik, an Australia-based company that provides mine planning software. Deswik will also join a new Digital Mining Technologies Division within the Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions (SMRS) business area.

By acquiring Deswik, which offers modelling, scheduling and data management applications, the company will gain a supplier of integrated software platforms that, according to a press release by Sandvik, will support digitalization throughout the mine planning stages, with more than 10,000 current licences.

“I am very pleased that we continue to execute on our shift to growth strategy and continue to broaden our offering with digital solutions that increase productivity in the customer’s value chain,” said Sandvik president and CEO Stefan Widing. “Mine planning and operations management is a key growth opportunity, and this complementary acquisition and our new Digital Mining Technologies Division will strengthen our digital offering and enable us to provide customers a more comprehensive suite of technologies.”

Deswik will also fill a value chain gap in SMRS’s offering, according to Sandvik. It will increase upstream mining coverage and enable opportunities for end-to-end optimization solutions, including incorporating electrification at the mine planning stage.

Related: Combining electrification and automation can lead to operating efficiencies

“Deswik’s second-to-none software suite combined with Sandvik’s digital and automation offering creates a clear world leader in digital solutions for the mining industry,” said SMRS president Henrik Ager. “Combining Deswik’s skills in mine planning and scheduling with our equipment and automation expertise will open new opportunities for optimizing our customers’ mining value chain.”

Deswik will form one of three cornerstones in the newly created division alongside Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions automation solutions and the Newtrax telemetry and collision avoidance solutions.

Sandvik acquired Newtrax, a Montreal-based company that provides industrial internet of things devices to monitor personnel, machines and the environment in 2019.

The division was established to accelerate SMRS’s strategic priority to lead the industry development of underground sustainability and productivity solutions in electrification, automation, digitalization and end-to-end optimization.

 “The three business units (automation, Newtrax and Deswik) each have their own [business strategies] driving their profitable growth,” said SMRS external communications manager Eric Gourley. “At the same time, there is a significant opportunity for them to collaborate closely on creating a joint digital mining platform that allows Sandvik customers to optimize their mining processes end-to-end, from planning to execution.”

The transaction is expected to close during Q1 2022, subject to relevant regulatory approvals.