SHAFT SINKING
Point Laz embedding itself in the shaft sector
After mine shafts have been constructed and are relied on for hoisting operations, potential downtime translates directly to lost revenue.
This is why typical operations conduct lengthy, manual inspections every week to see if the shaft shapes up.
Alexandre Grenier, founder and CEO of Point Laz, says there is another option to the manual and time-consuming process – one that is automated, quick and easy to deploy, and can be conducted safely and reliably.
Point Laz, through its Lazaruss 3D & Visual scanner, can carry out automated scans of the shaft environment through a rope attachment on a shaft conveyance. The scanner, which uses a combination of survey-grade LiDAR technology and highresolution imaging devices, automates the inspection process, eliminating the need for humans to enter potentially hazardous zones. This not only reduces the risks associated with traditional visual inspection methodologies but also enhances the accuracy and reliability of the assessments, according to the company.
“ At the moment, the Lazaruss scanners are mostly used for maintenance-led inspections,” Grenier told IM.“ But each mine has a different type of issue – it could be water ingress for salt mines, structural rust buntons for mines in South Africa, or, more generally, the need to adjust guide alignments to make the skip go faster.
“ We’ re seeing the application base case expand rapidly, with operations using both the point cloud data, as well as the imaging information.”
The Lazaruss scanner removes any bias that may come with manual inspections, as well as reduces the required setup time associated with conducting these scans( Grenier says the solution can be set up within five minutes). Manual inspections can take some four-to-eight hours, whereas the Lazaruss is able to achieve
The Lazaruss scanner can be set up within five minutes, according to Point Laz’ s Alexandre Grenier scans in around 20 minutes. This is why the company can claim savings of up to $ 2 million a week in potential lost revenue for mining operations by using its scanners.
These numbers have evidence behind them too, with Grenier saying prototype Lazaruss scanners have carried out over 35 shaft inspections to date.
“ We have five units out there that we’ ve been using and we’ re now at the point where commercialisation is not too far away,” he said.“ We’ ve seen interest from deep mines in South Africa – where we have already tested out a prototype in the deepest mine there – plus we have had serial scanning success with the potash mines in Saskatchewan.”
Grenier was also able to list off planned deployments in Mongolia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo when IM spoke to him.
While the interest to this point has been on the production side of the shaft market, Grenier says the company has been in talks with shaft sinkers and mine developers looking to understand how Lazaruss could come into their own work.
“ When you are sinking a shaft, you have the time to use terrestrial scanners that are super precise,” he said.“ We would always recommend companies use this to gain a baseline that Lazaruss scans can then be compared with when the shaft moves into production mode.“ What we are starting to see though is companies looking to use our scanners earlier on in the process – in the commissioning phase, for instance.
“ The earlier we can start to provide this data in a mine’ s life, the better.”
And the business case for using Lazaruss throughout the shaft’ s life is only going to get better as more AI is embedded into the process, according to Grenier, who says such developments are likely to come shortly after Lazaruss scanners are commercialised, expected in 2026.
Bergteamet is working on behalf of Norwegian AF Gruppen on one of Sweden’ s biggest infrastructure projects right now at the E4 Stockholm Bypass, which involves the sinking of a number of major ventilation shafts for the long road tunnel under Lovön
Having sunk the shaft, the mine owner soon became aware of the fragility of the rock at the top of the shaft, employing Bergteamet to shotcrete, bolt and grout this area.
The company used its Remote Shaft Lining Robot to spray a concrete layer around the shaft’ s diameter down to circa-80 m.
This robot is a complete remotecontrolled option for concrete spraying of shafts, according to Bergteamet. The shotcrete robot is lowered in the raisebore shaft and the wet shotcrete is transported to the spray nozzle trough hoses connected to the cable where it is mixed with accelerator and sprayed onto the shaft wall.
“ With support legs, the robot is continuously centred in the shaft throughout the work,” the company added.“ The spray robot is controlled and monitored by a remote operator and eliminates the need for workers in the shaft.”
The equipment has a range of up to 350 metres as standard, but in a special assignment with good conditions a record of 630 meters was set, Jonsson said.
Below the 80 m depth at Zinkgruvan, with significant water inflows of some 13-15 cu. m / h experienced, the company started to manually insert bolts that were injected with specialised grout from Master Builders Solutions.
Outside of Zinkgruvan, the company has also assisted LKAB, which owns 75 % of Bergteamet, with shaft rehabilitation work. The pair have also developed the Shaft Cable Bolter, which is lowered and raised in the shaft with the help of a robust fixed hanging frame and an upgraded winder to carry out remote bolting operations.
International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2025