LoopX and Vale Base Metals have entered a three-year R&D partnership to advance AI-powered underground mining. Chao Yu, LoopX CEO and Founder said: “Together, we’re developing and validating Physical AI technologies that improve safety, enhance productivity, and lay the foundation for the next generation of intelligent and autonomous mining.”

This is a major step forward for LoopX and its most significant customer agreement that has been made public since its collaboration with contract mining and shaft sinking major Cementation in 2024.

LoopX developed what is says is the mining industry’s first safety platform for underground and surface mining that unifies Vision AI, LiDAR, and RF into a single solution, delivering 360° detection, proactive warnings, and automatic intervention in the most challenging environments.

Vale Base Metals states: “Artificial intelligence is changing the world – and Vale Base Metals is putting that technology to work in our own operations. We’re excited to announce a new three-year R&D partnership with LoopX to bring AI into our underground operations in Sudbury, Ontario, making the work safer and smarter. The LoopX system is designed to support collision avoidance and greater production-level autonomy, enhancing safety and increasing productivity.”

It adds: “Through partnerships like this, we’re exploring how emerging technologies can help protect our people, improve operational performance and support the responsible production of critical minerals transforming the future.”

VBM is partnering with LoopX it says to develop a next generation AI-powered operating system. Chris McCleave, CTO at VBM: “At VBM we are not only supplying critical minerals for the AI industry, we are applying AI technologies too, helping us become more agile, most cost-competitive and better positioned to deliver long term results.”

Chao Yu adds: “LoopX is our physical AI company based in Sudbury and Toronto. We are building all condition intelligence for heavy industry with Vale Base Metals – we are developing and validating systems that can understand surroundings and make decisions, and continuously learn from the real mining environment.”

Connor Hamstra, LoopX Head of Systems Development said that the LoopX CAS is already installed on a Toyota light vehicle – using thermal vision 3D LiDAR and AI edge computing to detect hazards around equipment. It detects people, equipment and other hazards, whether tagged or untagged, and notifies the operator so they can make smart decisions.”

He says LoadSight is one of the other technologies being deployed with VBM – this is an AI-powered productivity monitoring system that uses 3D LiDAR, night-vision cameras, and edge AI to track truck and LHD performance during normal operations. It measures load volumes, records every load-haul-dump cycle, and delivers verifiable reports through an onboard dashboard.

Hamstra added: “We will move from collision avoidance, to supervised autonomy and eventually to coordinated autonomy, where entire fleets work together intelligently to maximise both safety and productivity. But collision avoidance is just the beginning. This technology is the foundation to next generation autonomy in mining.”

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