HIGH PROFILE
In new development areas, they deploy a cluster of three or four sensors which they remove before blasting.
Over to Canada and soft rock, where xCell Cyclops has been deployed in potash mines with significant ground movement due to the natural creep of the highly deformable clay seams. This particular mine deployed xCell Cyclops on the back of the excavation to monitor the back-to-floor movement with particular focus on detecting any long-term trends. The mine exported the data and used specialised software tools to compile it, generate trend lines and provide visual insights into ground movement, helping to determine what was moving and whether that movement posed a risk. This potash mine wanted to use the xCell Cyclops to validate their assumptions and their modelling, allowing them to refine their geotechnical models and to optimise their convergence forecasts for the future.
Vallati:“ And that’ s the real power of xCell Cyclops. By combining convergence monitoring with modelling and intelligence to put the results in context you can unlock insights that really make a difference.”
Sandvik now has a lot of xCell Cyclops sensors installed globally – the largest footprint is in gold mining in Australia but there is a big population in North America, in both potash and metallic operations. The technology is also gaining traction in gold and copper mines in Africa, as well as in European mine operations( salt and hard rock). There is also significant potential for growth in the tunnelling industry, including for projects in South America.
From sensor to a tool in digital twins
The xCell Cyclops is not a high-cost device, around € 350, which is minimal compared to the cost of having geotechs walk the mine for visual inspections or LiDAR surveys. On this basis the ROI time is quite short. It also allows the geotech to focus on their main role, which is to interpret what is going on in the mine rather than spending time taking measurements themselves.
The types of application will vary. In deeper mines, where increasing stress brings increased deformation, rock mass damage and seismicity and therefore a greater need for monitoring, operators will likely to keep a large stock of xCell Cyclops for permanent deployment. In shallow mines, operations may prefer to have a smaller number of units, either moving them around the mine as needed, or using them in areas of concern or around critical assets. Another use case would be in areas of old workings, where the mine plans to re-enter and mine old pillars as an example – xCell Cyclops could be deployed during preparations to help assess ground stability and understand
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Convergence data plots from two xCell Cyclops at a customer site
how safe the re-entry will be.
Sandvik’ s Ground Support division is pushing the boundaries of technology to assess the performance of its products – are the ground supports working well, as expected, and what is their condition.
Beyond convergence monitoring, the team is developing new products and functionalities that will provide critical information on rock bolt installation quality and their consumed capacity – this may soon permit the creation of a digital twin of a mine’ s ground support.
xCell Cyclops use LEDs to troubleshoot and locate the device underground. They will blink when the device is powered-on or gets connected to a Bluetooth device. During data harvesting, the device lights up a blue coloured LED when the communication with the xCell Professor is established, and green colour when data transfer is completed. A flashing red indicates a hardware problem or low battery
International Mining | JANUARY 2026