From dynamite to bulk emulsions, pyrotechnics and electronic detonating systems, it is clear that what worked in 1896, when AEL Mining Services was established, could not reach the depths from where minerals are mined today or address current mining needs. Safety, production and transportation of sensitive materials are key elements in the explosives market, and today, extracting minerals requires sophisticated and ongoing innovations as mining resources becomes more challenging, the company says.
AEL’s dedicated Research and Development (R&D) department was formed to develop cutting edge commercial explosives and initiating systems for the mining industry. “To provide world class technologies and mining solutions, we need to understand the trends that are present in the industry. We have expanded our footprint to develop solutions for a wide range of applications and mining methods, that is why it is important that our solutions are innovative and on par with what the industry requires,” says Dr Piet Halliday, Group Technology Executive Director at AEL.
As a leader in mining solutions and operating in the export market, AEL acknowledges the challenges that come with transporting and moving sensitive products on a global scale due to the complexities of a multitude of regulations and legislation. “Transporting sensitive products is also expensive in terms of running costs and insurance. Companies in the explosives industry are always under scrutiny and legislation now dictates non-toxic and non-lead products from companies such as AEL,” notes Halliday.
In a bid to abide by these laws, some five years ago, AEL decided to move away from using toxic materials and develop products that are insensitive to accidental detonation to overcome security and safety challenges and to facilitate classification when transporting these goods.
According to Halliday, one of the projects that AEL has been working on for several years is the development of non-lead based pyrotechnic system with the University of Pretoria. “We are currently in an advanced stage of developing a detonator that has a non-detonable base charge, which provides a case for moving products around the globe without limitations. Another exciting project is the work we are doing with overseas universities and industry experts to develop a cost effective state of the art track-and-trace system using novel materials, which can be encoded with necessary data in bulk emulsions and the detonator systems to allow tracking of where and when product has been manufactured and where it is going. Once complete, this solution will go a long way globally to assist the explosives’ supply chain and address security, safety and accountability,” adds Halliday.
AEL is also involved with the universities of Cambridge and Swansea to develop innovative printing technologies for pyrotechnics. These technologies have the capability to develop a prototype of whatever product the customer requires, which can be updated and modelled according to customer needs before it reaches the manufacturers.
“We strive to provide the best solutions that will make mining easier and safer for our customers and continue to seek different ways to enhance mining with lesser environmental impact. To date AEL has removed the elemental lead from our green pyrotechnic products and are working on our last step to remove lead azide,” concludes Halliday. Lead azide (Pb(N3)2) is an inorganic compound. More so than other azides, it is explosive and is used in detonators.