A new automated battery-powered loader is being introduced into the Cemex underground production site in Germany, aimed at ensuring safer underground operations that are more efficient and easier to scale.

Mining equipment manufacturer Aramine provides the machine platform for the Aramac L140B loader, while automation specialist sensmore provides the automation system and vertically integrates it into Cemex’s underground production environment. The automated machine is engineered to operate autonomously for up to eight hours, compared with an approximately five-hour operation in manual mode.

“As Europe seeks to secure access to critical raw materials, underground extraction must become safer, more efficient, and less dependent on scarce skilled labour. Autonomous machines offer a practical path to achieving these goals while reducing operator exposure to demanding underground environments,” said Aramine co-president: equipment division Marc Melkonian.

The L140B battery-powered loader was first launched in 2016 and was designed to enable a transition toward autonomous production, operating with zero local CO₂ emissions. Featuring a 1.3 t payload and engineered specifically for narrow-vein mining, the machine is designed to ensure productivity, manoeuvrability, and operational flexibility in confined underground environments.

sensmore explains that it transformed the L140B into an autonomous production machine by integrating the automation stack, safety architecture, machine control, and operational interfaces required for production use, ensuring that the machine does not operate as a standalone robot, but as part of the underground workflow.

The company explains that it connected the automated machine to Cemex’s full underground production process, including machine control, conveyor belt, functional safety systems, network infrastructure, operational interfaces, and production flow.

“Autonomy in heavy industry only creates real value when it is vertically integrated into the production environment,” said sensmore CEO and co-founder Maximilian Rolf. “At Cemex, we are integrating the Aramine L140B into the entire underground process. That is how autonomous machines become part of industrial reality today.”

“Implementing this system is a major milestone for us. It helps improve productivity, reduces operator exposure to underground risks, and supports our journey toward safer and lower-emission mining operations,” said Cemex coordinator: underground operations, extraction and blasting Christian Zinnecker.