CUSTOMERS

Safecrete Proves Rapid Strength at Fosterville Mine

November 1, 2025

Safecrete Technology deployed its wireless monitoring sensors alongside Sika's new AFA (alkali-free accelerator) offering as part of a competitive shotcrete chemical tender at the Fosterville gold mine in Victoria.

Testing in a live operational heading, Safecrete's sensors demonstrated that the shotcrete reached 1 MPa at just 50 minutes and 1.5 MPa at 65 minutes — tracked in real time alongside traditional penetrometer and beam end testing methods.

The results represent a significant milestone: real-time, continuous strength verification in an active underground heading, delivering faster and more reliable data than conventional point-in-time testing approaches.

minutes to 1 MPa

minutes to 1.5 MPa

Competitive Shotcrete Chemical Tender

Fosterville mine conducted a competitive tender for shotcrete chemical suppliers. The tender process required demonstrating accelerator performance in live underground conditions — providing an opportunity to benchmark Safecrete's real-time monitoring against traditional testing methods.

Traditional Testing

Penetrometer tests provide localised, surface-level readings at a single point in time — unable to track continuous strength development.
Beam end testing requires sample preparation and laboratory analysis, introducing delays before results are available.
Neither method provides a continuous curing profile — operators must estimate re-entry timing between test points.

Safecrete Monitoring

Continuous real-time strength data from the moment of application — no gaps, no estimation required.
Wireless sensors embedded in the shotcrete transmit data to the cloud automatically — no personnel re-entry needed for data collection.
Precise threshold tracking showed exactly when 1 MPa and 1.5 MPa were reached, giving operations confidence to act on real data.

Underground Trial Results

Sika AFA Accelerator Performance

The trial deployed Safecrete sensors into shotcrete sprayed with Sika's new alkali-free accelerator (AFA) formulation in an active operational heading at Fosterville. The sensors were activated, placed into the hopper, and sprayed as part of the normal application cycle — adding no additional time or complexity to the process. Real-time maturity data streamed wirelessly to the IndustryOS cloud platform throughout the curing period.

Safecrete sensor deployment at Fosterville mine

Rapid Strength Development Confirmed

The Safecrete system tracked the full curing profile in real time, confirming the shotcrete reached 1 MPa uniaxial compressive strength at 50 minutes and 1.5 MPa at 65 minutes. These results were captured continuously — not extrapolated from point-in-time tests — giving the operations team a complete picture of strength development from application through to clearance threshold. Traditional penetrometer and beam end tests were conducted in parallel, providing a direct comparison between conventional methods and Safecrete's continuous monitoring approach.

Shotcrete strength testing at Fosterville

Value Demonstrated in a Competitive Setting

Deploying Safecrete within a competitive chemical tender demonstrated the technology's value beyond standalone monitoring. By providing real-time, continuous strength data during the accelerator evaluation, Safecrete gave Fosterville's engineering team objective evidence of how each chemical formulation performed — not just at discrete test points, but across the entire early-age curing window. This positions Safecrete as a valuable tool for both ongoing operations and future shotcrete product evaluations.

Safecrete real-time monitoring dashboard

Partnership with Sika

Safecrete continues to work closely with Sika, deploying monitoring technology alongside Sika's shotcrete chemical products at mine sites across the region.

The combination of Sika's accelerator chemistry and Safecrete's real-time strength verification provides mining operations with both optimised shotcrete performance and the data to prove it.

Learn More About Safecrete Headings

Explore the full product documentation including technical specifications, solution architecture, and concept of operations.

Safecrete Documentation