“Our software development program focuses quite heavily on process optimization through digitization, which has been accelerated by the onset of the pandemic.”
After a decade of success with its BLASTMAP blast planning software for surface application, Omnia Group company BME has released a version of this innovative solution for underground mining.
Sulphide-bearing ground presents numerous risks to users of ammonium nitrate (AN) based explosives, so blasting leader BME – part of the JSE-listed Omnia Group – has developed both the products and systems to manage safer blasting under these conditions.
The blast was conducted by BME, an Omnia Group company, at the end of 2020 at a manganese mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. Using its well-proven AXXIS electronic initiation system, BME was able to plan and execute a blast of 4,647 detonators. Just a few months earlier, the company had broken a previous record at the same mine by initiating 3,780 detonators in a single blast.
The South African mining sector is managing the Covid-19 pandemic remarkably well, but the country needs to do more if it wants mining to benefit from the looming demand peak in ‘green minerals’, according to Ralf Hennecke, General Manager: Technology and Marketing at Omnia Group company BME.
The quest to raise productivity on mines is relying increasingly on technological innovation and pushing the boundaries of blasting science has therefore been a priority for explosives and blasting leader BME, a member of the JSE-listed Omnia group.
