Having sustained its supply chain through initial COVID-19 lockdowns, BME, a member of the Omnia Holdings Group, says it is looking ahead to continued growth in Australia and Asia.

Brad Bulow, BME’s General Manager Australia-Asia, says its Australia and Indonesia blasting and explosives clients continued to efficiently operate through the initial lockdown period, being successfully supported by BME’s Brisbane and Jakarta offices, which applied a work-from-home policy.

Bulow noted that the company has been able to maintain the supply of AXXIS™ detonators to its customers over the lockdown period by using a combination of “agile manufacturing planning, air and sea freight solutions” along with leveraging inventories in “strategic locations”.

BME recently commissioned a new emulsion plant in Indonesia in support of existing down-the-hole blast loading operations, which helped the situation.

“We are forecasting strong growth for our AXXIS offering in Australia and Asia and have recently introduced two new customers to the product,” Bulow said. “Currently, our mining customers are producing good volumes, and their demand for our products remains high.”

Such strong growth projections will no doubt factor in the release of the latest generation of BME’s AXXIS system – AXXIS TITANIUM™. Expected to launch later this year, it will be the most advanced electronic blast initiation system on the market, according to Tinus Brits, BME’s Global Product Manager for AXXIS.

Back in May, the company said trials of the system in South Africa had proven successful with a 100% success rate to date.