MAXAM, the global technology company specialising in the design, development, manufacture and application of energy materials, will present its latest blasting solutions for underground mining on April 17. The solutions will be presented at an event for clients and other industry professionals to be held in the auditorium of Gómez Pardo Foundation, organised in collaboration with the Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineers at Madrid’s Universidad Politécnica.

At the event, the company will present its vision of mining operations as a circuit in which around 80% of costs are linked to energy consumption. From this perspective, intelligent design and application of energy material during blasting can generate savings of up to 30% in the rest of the operation, from the loading of blasted material through to its transport, comminution or processing.

“Our knowledge of the different possibilities in terms of applying the energy material and the impact that a well-designed blast can have on the rest of the operation means that we work ever more closely with our customers, analyse their specific goals and develop tailor-made solutions to achieve them. MAXAM hopes to use the event to explain the value of technical knowledge and the options it opens up in reducing the total cost of operation”, explains Vicente Huélamo, Director of the Technical Applications Department.

One of the most innovative solutions developed by the company over recent months, and which will now be presented at the event, is its RIOSENSOR. This is a device designed by the company’s technicians to identify and measure deviations in blastholes before proceeding with the explosion. It means corrections can be carried out or the effects of deviations on the final result can be anticipated, therefore improving operational productivity.

MAXAM will also use the event to present its work alongside one of the world’s most technically demanding clients on a copper project in Asia. This work has involved the two companies collaborating in implementing a new way to carry out development blasts, ie those which are used to reach the ore by constructing infrastructure such as tunnels. “Thanks to loading product with two different densities for the contour and the advance, we obtain faster progress with greater control. This results in cost savings by reducing the damage caused to the edges of the galleries by 50%, along with significant improvements in safety. In total, nearly 500 km of tunnels have been built in this emblematic project.”

MAXAM actively collaborates with the theoretical and practical training of the students of the Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, institution together with which it has managed since 2002 the Chair-Company MAXAM of Explosive Technology. The objective of this is to facilitate knowledge, dissemination and training on any of the facets of the explosive: properties, manufacturing, transport, storage, use and application. “MAXAM teachers, students and professionals work together to carry out studies and research work and to organise seminars and colloquiums in which to share knowledge. The collaboration of all manages to open new lines of research with which to continue improving the technical possibilities of explosive materials and products and their contribution to economic, industrial and social development.”