MAXAM has announced today the official launch of its new integrated blasting service: X-Energy, addressed to optimise the total cost of ownership in mining, quarrying and infrastructure operations, through a continuous improvement spiral.

X-Energy is the first solution in the industry integrating selective energy application in a fully digitalised mine cycle. It combines the most advanced explosives technology in the market (Smart Rioflex) and a set of digital tools for optimised blast design and execution, integrated in the MAXAM Blast Center.

Thanks to its tailor-made, modular nature, X-Energyallows to develop a customised solution for each operation. It allows the selective application of the explosive energy according to the rock properties, resulting in clear sustainable savings to our customers, explains Vicente Huélamo, MAXAM Chief Technology Officer.

The X-Energy application allows a mine to customize the design and execution of each individual blast and integrate it to the requirements of downstream operations. The benefits in enhanced safety, reduced impact to the environment, optimised rock fragmentation, efficient use of energy, higher production, and reduced costs helpmines become more competitive and more sustainable.

MAXAM’s Smart RIOFLEX technology can instantaneously adjust the explosive density to match to a wide range of rock mass conditions, with one single matrix and sensitising unit. Its mechanical sensitisation provides more control than chemical gassing, ensuring the exact product quantity at the right stemming length and saving operational time.

MAXAM Blast Center is a cloud-based platform enabling the full digitalisation of the blasting services. It integrates a full range of MAXAM digital tools to design, plan and conduct the most efficient drilling and blasting operation, enabling selective energy application as per rock characteristics. MAXAM Blast Center is envisioned to include third-party data for downstream impact tracking and optimisation.

Other modules of the X-Energy application are: RIOBLAST, an advanced, user-friendly updated blast design and simulation suite which now integrates data from measuring while drilling; FMS (Fleet Management System), to plan, control and optimise MSU operations; FDL (Field data logger), to verify, correct and record data on the bench; and RIOTRONIC X+, an electronic initiation system and detonator to produce a broad range of precisely timed blasts.