Tag Archives: Blasting

Orica sets out to transform mine-site used oil explosive utilisation with Cyclo

Environmental, Explosives and blasting, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , ,

Orica’s Cyclo™, a solution combining the company’s emulsifier technology with used oil processing technology to transform mine-site used oil for application in explosives, is off to a fast start with the first automated containerised system recently successfully commissioned in Ghana.

Cyclo is an example of Orica’s strategic focus on optimised resource use through circularity, it said in its recently released annual report.

While used oil/diesel blends have been utilised in process fuels for more than 15 years, the technique requires tight quality control and regular testing when used to manufacture emulsions, the company said. “As a result, it has only been feasible at sites with access to external laboratory services.”

To service a broader range of customers, Orica has partnered with CreatEnergy to develop a standalone, on-site solution to treat used oil to the quality required for emulsion manufacture.

Orica initially scheduled Cyclo for market introduction in late 2022, but it scaled and sped up development and production plans to support customers’ operations and curtail material supply disruptions brought about by COVID-19.

“Our first automated containerised used oil recycling system, Cyclo, was successfully commissioned recently in Ghana, Africa,” Adam Mooney, Vice President of Blasting Technology, said. “We are working to gradually commission further units across more customer sites in the coming months, including in Papua New Guinea and Senegal.”

Bulk emulsion manufactured with Cyclo™ processed used oil

Over 33,000 litres of used oil has been processed to date through the initial Cyclo service, according to Mooney, who explained: “This is a modest quantity as the Cyclo unit was only commissioned remotely in recent months due to COVID-19. In a year, this mine is forecast to reduce their diesel consumption by approximately 250,000 litres.”

Mooney told IM that its used oil recycling technology is designed to support customers’ remote operations where Orica’s site-based emulsion plants are available.

“The key difference in the Cyclo service with existing offers in the market is that the containerised processing system is fully integrated into our on-site emulsion plants, enabling the used oil from the mine to be directly recycled without leaving the site,” he said. “The processing unit guarantees used oil quality to the standard required for emulsion manufacture by removing potential contaminants and, when combined with proprietary Orica emulsifier technology, guarantees finished bulk product quality.”

These installations will, the company said, reduce the annual diesel consumption for explosives manufacture for customers, depending on bulk product consumption, by some 250,000-800,000 litres per year per site when operational, delivering an environmental and commercial benefit to customers. On top of the obvious diesel consumption benefits, the solution will reduce truck movements through local communities and the associated logistical challenges and risks, particularly for remote operations.

A version of the Cyclo system to suit Arctic conditions (eg in Russia and parts of Asia) is currently being designed and will be operational in 2022, Mooney added.

Ralf Hennecke promoted to Managing Director at BME

Explosives and blasting, Mining people, , , ,

Ralf Hennecke has been appointed as the Managing Director of BME, a division of the Omnia Group, with effect from December 1, 2021.

Hennecke started his career in 1987 at Rand Mines Limited and was employed at Johannesburg Consolidated Investments, following which he joined Omnia BME in 1995.

He has deep operational, marketing, sales, commercial and technical expertise, having been part of BME’s executive team for over 20 years and played a key role in BME’s recent global corporate development and strategy. In July 2021, Hennecke was promoted to the position of Managing Director for BME SADC.

BME, a leading manufacturer and supplier of explosives products, technology and blasting services to the mining sector, says it has a balanced presence in sectors that are essential to the sustainable use of the world’s finite resources and focuses on developing intellectual property to add value to the global mining sector.

Hennecke said: “It is an honour to accept this role, and with the support of my team, we are deeply committed to executing on BME’s growth plans across our global markets. We will achieve this through consistent product, technology and services delivery, close customer and stakeholder relationships and partnerships, whilst playing our part as a responsible and sustainable corporate citizen in the mining sector.”

The recent launch of AXXIS Titanium™, an advanced electronic blast detonation systems, will play a key role in driving growth, while the “Blast Alliance” approach will further entrench the division’s reputation as a collaborative partner, the company said.

Seelan Gobalsamy, CEO of the Omnia Group, said: “In line with Omnia’s growth strategy, it is vital to ensure that we have the leadership bench strength required to achieve our ambitions. It, thus, gives me great pleasure to welcome Ralf in his new role. Ralf’s wealth of experience and understanding of our group allows us to continue to execute on our growth strategy.”

Orica continues to expand digital capabilities with help of Microsoft Azure

Comminution of minerals, Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

Leading blasting company Orica says it is rapidly expanding its digital capability, creating data rich and AI-infused tools that enable step-change improvements in customers’ productivity, safety and sustainability.

Over the last four years, Orica has grown its digital team fivefold, and from a standing start it now has more than 200 customers for its digital solutions – building a whole new offering and revenue stream for the company, it said.

It has now enlisted the help of Microsoft’s Azure platform as the strategic cloud foundation for its emerging digital portfolio. Azure’s performance, reliability, scalability and security provide trusted foundations for innovation while access to Azure IoT, a growing portfolio of Azure cognitive services and an extensive library of AI tools helps accelerate Orica’s digital innovation, according to Rajkumar Mathiravedu, Vice President of Digital Solutions for Orica.

Mathiravedu is also keen on the industry cross-pollination opportunities that the Azure ecosystem affords. He noted: “We are seeing Azure being deployed in lot of oil and gas applications and some of those can easily be applied in mining.”

Meanwhile he’s keeping a close eye on how emerging Azure capabilities, such as Azure Space which allows satellite information to be made easily accessible, could further expand Orica’s innovation horizons.

The company is already working on open digital platforms that integrate Orica expertise, customers’ own data with machine learning to create intelligent production workflows that, in real time, reveal to mining engineers what they are working with at a particular site and provide live design recommendations.

“Whether it is hard, medium, soft, and how the rock changes and where the most valuable ore is located,” Mathiravedu said. “So what it really means is now you can actually optimise the right explosives energy specific to the desired outcomes.

“This has a huge impact from a sustainability perspective. By using the right energy to break the rocks, we’re optimising the chemical energy. We are materially reducing the water and electricity, which is used for grinding and processing later, while readily managing environmental factors such dust and vibrations.”

This solution is now in production with an iron ore miner based in Australia, he added.

Orica’s cloud based digital platforms are designed to allow information to be shared openly across mining ecosystems – from geological exploration, through blasting, extraction and processing – integrating sensor and IoT data with AI-infused analytics to provide mining customers with the insights which will allow them to go “deeper, steeper and cheaper”, Mathiravedu said.

Leveraging the cloud, IoT, edge-processing and machine learning algorithms, Orica focuses on delivering real-time data-driven insights to help customers optimise energy use, drill patterns and maximise efficiencies both on the mine site and throughout the downstream value chain.

Srikant Kadambi, Energy Lead, Microsoft Asia, said: “Orica has unparalleled domain expertise and global industry knowledge. Combining that with Microsoft Azure capabilities and the ability of our teams and ecosystems to deploy these technologies at production scale allows us to work together to create literally ground-breaking – pun intended – solutions for the whole mining value chain. We bring to the table our whole Azure ecosystem, access to libraries of AI tools developed for different industries, and skills and expertise that we can share with Orica as it continues to grow its digital capability.”

To reinforce this digital focus, Orica has opened a Digital Immersion Centre in Brisbane – a specialised facility where it can, the company says, work with development partners, including Microsoft, and customers to promote innovation, spur collaboration and also establish an Orica data and analytics centre of excellence.

This centre of excellence brings together data science, artificial intelligence, modern cloud computing and Orica’s 140 plus years of domain expertise. It will also act as an incubator for any Orica digital businesses.

Mathiravedu said the digital team is building solutions to support existing Orica customers, as well as new customers from right across the sector’s value chain. Open by design, these platforms are tailored for a range of applications focused around efficiency, productivity and safety as well as to help support customers achieve their own sustainability targets.

“We do not want to be constrained only to existing Orica customers,” he said. “We want to be available to the entire mining value chain.”

Orica looks to further improve blast outcomes with latest OREPro 3D release

Explosives and blasting, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , ,

Orica has released its latest OREPro™ 3D blast movement modelling software for, it says, maximum ore recovery, productivity and throughput.

Developed in partnership with major mining companies, OREPro 3D, is a software application that accurately models blast movement, enabling situational awareness and improved grade control for customers globally, Orica said.

It uses readily available mine data as inputs, including blast designs, in-situ block models and post-blast muck pile surveys. Algorithms then replicate movement dynamics throughout the entire blast volume and calculate SmartVectors™ that accurately transform the in-situ grade control into a swelled post-blast grade control model, the company explained.

Orica Chief Technology Officer, Angus Melbourne, said: “Orica has a vision of becoming an integrated ore extraction mining services company and we are rapidly building a portfolio of digital technologies to augment our core explosives technologies and solutions and better serve customers. This technology is a critical enabler to us building an open, secure and connected digital ecosystem that will allow our customers to accurately model and continually improve blast outcomes and the impact on their downstream operations.”

Understanding where the rock mass has moved, post-blast, is critical to separating ore and waste effectively and creating downstream efficiencies in the mining process, and this has the potential to unlock significant value for customers.

Orica Vice President Digital Solutions, Rajkumar Mathiravedu, said: “We’re excited about the OREPro 3D technology as it complements and will soon integrate with our existing suite of market-leading digital blast design, execution and measurement solutions, including SHOTPlus, BlastIQ, FRAGTrack and ORETrack. The integration of these solutions will offer customer’s unrivalled digital workflow solutions from orebody knowledge through to mineral processing.”

OREPro 3D, which is used by many tier-one miners around the world today, Orica says, will continue to be offered as a standalone blast movement solution or optionally integrated with other Orica products and services to deliver greater insights and optimisation opportunities to customers.

BME continues to make blasting strides in Indonesia

Explosives and blasting, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , ,

Having pursued a global expansion in recent decades, South Africa-based blasting leader BME says it is making good on an exciting new phase for its Indonesia operations.

With mainly a trading presence in Indonesia for 10 years already, the Omnia Group company has been active in full-service contracting for the past two – and is already receiving high-level recognition, it says. In September 2021, BME Indonesia was honoured with a good mining practice award in the blasting services category by the Indonesian Government.

According to Brad Bulow, General Manager of BME Australia Asia, this bodes particularly well for the company in a country with such a bright future in mineral production.

“Indonesia’s mining sector is well positioned for growth, and coal is the fastest growing source of energy production there,” Bulow said. “Coal is mainly used in Indonesia’s power generation, and the country’s supply is dominated by coal-fired power plants at this stage.”

Forecasts indicate that coal will remain a dominant energy source in Indonesia and the South East Asian region until about 2050, supporting power generation and other industry sectors, according to BME.

“Nickel is also an exciting commodity for Indonesia, which is estimated to have the largest reserves of nickel in the world – more even than Australia,” said Bulow. “As an indispensable raw material for producing electric car batteries, nickel is one of the country’s fastest growing mineral commodities.”

Investors are looking at building smelters in-country to process nickel into raw material for batteries, while nickel ore itself has been banned for export by the government since January 2020.

Commenting on the recent good practice award, BME’s Business Manager Indonesia, Agusman, noted that such recognition meant a great deal – and would help cement BME’s reputation as an innovator with world-class standards of operation. BME Indonesia has been supplying explosive products and accessories into Indonesia for over a decade. Holding company BME is a leading player in blasting services and products in Africa, with a global presence including Australia, Canada and the US.

The company has also developed specific products for the region, including a single-salt emulsion. Widely known for its superior dual-salt emulsion technology, BME was able to respond to customer requests in 2019 for a single-salt option. This was put into use in early 2020 and has since been producing excellent blasting results, according to the company. The product has even been trialled with used oil as the fuel agent, which has become an environmentally friendly and sustainable hallmark of BME’s emulsion products.

While BME Indonesia supplied mainly ammonium nitrate, packaged explosives, boosters, and electric and non-electric detonators before 2019, its large blasting services contract in south Kalimantan has opened the door for significant expansion.

“In this project, BME Indonesia has put to work four Mobile Manufacturing Units (MMUs) – our bulk explosives delivery trucks – and an on-site emulsion manufacturing plant,” Bulow said. “In addition to emulsion and down-the-hole services, we are also supplying our AXXIS™ electronic detonators to help customers achieve timing accuracy and control their blasting vibration.”

Another important aspect of BME’s technological contribution is the move by customers toward big data analytics, according to Bulow.

“Big data allows larger mines and their contractors to generate meaningful insights into their operations – paving the way to greater efficiency,” he said. “BME Indonesia is introducing our BLAST ALLIANCE™ portfolio of digital innovations, which includes our BLASTMAP™ planning software, BME Blasting guide app and XPLOLOG™ cloud data platform. Solutions such as AXXIS integration, custom development and training also fall under this brand.”

In the medium term, Bulow said the company looks forward to winning more projects and penetrating further into surface metals and underground mining – and the funding, innovation and advanced technology is in place to achieve this goal.

“Looking further ahead, BME Indonesia expects to continue growing its contribution to Indonesia in general – and local communities in particular,” he said. “This includes our transfer of knowledge and technology, the utilisation of local resources and ongoing community development.”

BME brings technical blasting services online

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Omnia Group company, BME, says it is now providing technical blasting services online, giving the industry access to experienced specialists through virtual consultations and solutions.

The service is an important part of BME’s recently upgraded website, according to the company’s Global Manager for Blasting Science, D Scott Scovira.

“Our online technical blasting service is provided not only by BME’s in-house technical staff, but it is also in association with other recognised third-party specialists in blasting, mining and construction,” Scovira said. “The initial online consultation to discuss and scope out a blasting project is at no charge, and the service is not limited to existing BME clients only.”

The range of services offered include blast fragmentation distribution prediction for surface greenfield sites, fragmentation distribution optimisation for supporting mine-to-mill initiatives at established surface and underground sites, and rock characterisation and specifications for blasting in hot or reactive ground. The team are also able to provide solutions related to highwall blast design and management, as well as novel and disruptive blast design and mining methods, it said.

MAXAM’s automation and digitalisation efforts continue with X-Energy

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Blasting solutions provider, MAXAM is continuing its automation and digitalisation drive with the development of its X-Energy innovations, all of which are aimed at ensuring the proper use of its explosives’ energy to optimise downstream outputs, according to MAXAM Technical Senior Advisor, Vicente Huélamo.

As part of this, MAXAM has developed a “powerful and structured” digital platform called MAXAM Blast Center for storing, managing and sharing blast-related data. The platform is a user friendly, customised web-based system that can be accessed remotely.

Users can track information and generate reports detailing blasting activities in real time, since the platform enables the full integration of MAXAM digital tools to design, plan and conduct efficient drilling and blasting operations, the company said. The MAXAM Blast Center can include downstream data from the mine to track and optimise drilling and blasting, with the process commencing with blast design information generated in RIOBLAST, MAXAM’s blast design software, and transferred to the Blast Center platform.

RIOBLAST takes into account rock characteristics and blasting requirements to define the blast loading plans, timing configuration and the bulk explosive density profile for each specific rock layer along the borehole.

The complete blast design is then transferred to the Blast Center from where it can be assigned to the specific Mobile Sensitising Unit (MSU) and the X-Logger. On the bench, the blaster can gather actual data with the X-Logger, such as stemming length and hole conditions, while the MSU loads the boreholes according to the blast loading plan, MAXAM explained. The actual loading data is transferred back to the Blast Center where the information can be shared and processed.

“Innovative solutions using data science, business intelligence, equipment utilisation and blast optimisation can be developed as a consequence of the digitalisation of blasting processes,” MAXAM says. “The application of artificial intelligence and machine learning are key to generating value at each stage of the mine production cycle.”

The new generation of MAXAM’s fully digitalised MSUs, X-TRUCK, represents state-of-the-art technology for the manufacturing and loading of bulk blasting products, according to the company.

X-Truck offers a means of communication between the MAXAM Blast Center and the MSU control system, the company said. Loading plans can be sent directly to the loading units via a high-speed Wi-Fi network, allowing each MSU manufacture the specified quantity of product and load it directly into each borehole.

“The sensitising and loading of explosives is an operation that requires the highest quality standards to achieve the desired results,” the company explained. “MAXAM Blast Center ensures that the entire process, from blast design, data exchange, to final product application and blasting outcomes, is consistently performed safely, correctly and efficiently to always produce the optimum blasting outcomes.”

X-Logger, meanwhile, is an application for portable devices designed to collect and digitise actual data on the bench, such as borehole parameters after drilling, the amount of product loaded in each borehole, stemming control and other attributes. The device is fully integrated into the MAXAM Blast Center in a way that the data retrieved from the field is automatically updated in the platform using the internet connection. In the absence of such a connection, the data is synchronised when the connection is re-established.

MAXAM concluded: “The integration of geology, blasting design and drilling information into an innovative explosive application technology contributes to the mine optimisation program. These optimisation capabilities involve the ability to continuously model and measure all related phenomena and operational performance and consolidate them into a continuous improvement program of all the mine operations.”

BME launches Blast Alliance brand to encourage blasting technology collaboration

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Blasting technology is moving mining towards a more sustainable future, with BME and its recent launch of the ‘Blast Alliance’ brand looking to add impetus to this evolution.

The Omnia Group company has announced that Blast Alliance will encompass its portfolio of digital innovations including its BLASTMAP™ planning software, BME Blasting guide app and XPLOLOG™ cloud data platform. Solutions such as AXXIS™ integration, custom development and training also fall under this brand.

“Our new Blast Alliance brand represents the company’s journey of digital innovation and the collaborative approach we take in this exciting process,” BME Managing Director, Joe Keenan, said. “We believe this collaboration must be holistic, so we partner in three arenas: internally to optimise our solutions; through direct engagement with our customers; and working with third-parties where the need is identified – to enhance outputs for customers.”

Keenan said by giving BME’s software and solutions portfolio its own brand and identity, it will assert a unique market position underpinned by the company’s spirit of enterprise and the highest levels of integrity.

Michelle Fedder, BME Manager: Marketing and Brand, emphasised that the step was part of enhancing BME’s reputation as a technology and innovation-orientated partner.

“Blast Alliance provides our software portfolio with its own values, character, essence and value proposition,” Fedder said. “From a marketing perspective, the brand assures our customers of collaborative, innovative and integrated digital and automated mining and blasting solutions – further enhancing their value chains.”

The portfolio will adapt and evolve with key solutions as needs are identified, applying BME’s growing depth of digital and technological expertise, according to BME Software Product Manager, Christiaan Liebenberg.

“We are delivering flexibility, fluidity and future-facing solutions to our customers,” Liebenberg said. “A key focus here is the integration of our technology with mine-wide platforms, as part of the drive to support mining’s ongoing productivity efforts. Our initiatives also leverage digital technology to allow greater availability of real-time data.”

Keenan said that the Blast Alliance brand underscored the company’s core objectives in its offering to customers. These include optimising productivity, efficiency and safety while minimising risk through predictability – as well as reducing costs, promoting data-driven and real-time decision making, and enhancing process optimisation.

“As the mining sector embraces more technology, it is likely to be increasingly viewed as a forward-looking contributor in the transition to a more sustainable economy,” he said. “Implementing digital communication infrastructure at mine level can also have positive spin-offs for local communities – potentially improving connectivity in remote areas as part of mining’s environmental, social and governance commitment.”

BME breaks another electronic detonator blast record in South Africa

Explosives and blasting, Mine operation news, Mining consumables, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Another South African record for the largest electronic detonator blast has been broken by the blasting and explosives company BME.

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 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 latest achievement involved a remarkable 535 t of emulsion explosive in over 2,300 blast holes requiring a total of more than 37,000 m of drilling,” Kobus Boonzaaier, BME Area Manager in the Northern Cape, said. “The resulting blast was able to move almost 2.3 Mt of rock within a matter of seconds.”

Boonzaaier highlighted that the advantage of these large blasts is that they allow mines to blast less often; this means less disruption and a more streamlined operation. The size of the blast was not the only factor to consider, however, as a quality blast must also optimise key outcomes like fragmentation, BME said.

“We were pleased to once again achieve good fragmentation with this blast, ensuring that the resulting particle size would facilitate efficient loading, hauling and comminution by the mine,” Boonzaaier said.

The mine has made use of a full blasting service from BME for the past five years, with BME providing its expertise through a team of over 20 blasters, operators and assistants.

BME’s emulsion explosives – combined with AXXIS electronic initiation system, electronic detonators, blast planning software and other accessories – have been helping break records at South African mines for over a decade. It has conducted even larger blasts in Australia and Zambia in recent years – in the coal and copper sectors, respectively.

SRG Global to help Red 5 blast off at Great Western gold mine

Explosives and blasting, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , ,

SRG Global has been awarded a term contract with Pit N Portal Mining Services to provide specialist production drill and blast services and explosives supply at Red 5 Ltd’s Great Western gold mine in Western Australia.

The term contract is expected to start immediately for an initial 12-month term.

Pit N Portal, a division of Emeco, was awarded the contract mining gig at Great Western back in October.

A satellite deposit located around 55 km from Red 5’s Darlot gold mine and processing facility, Great Western comes with a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 870,000 t grading 2.5 g/t Au for 70,300 oz of contained gold. The maiden proven and probable reserve totalled 437,500 t at 2.5g/t Au for 35,424 oz of contained gold.

Based on a proposed mining rate of between 30,000-40,000 t/mth of ore, the open pit is expected to be completed over a period of around 13 months, with plans to then access the underground orebody via a portal at the base of the pit, Red 5 said at the time.

In addition to the work on Great Western, SRG Global was also awarded a new three-year contract (with option for a further two years) with GFG Liberty OneSteel to provide engineered access solutions at the Liberty Steelworks site in Whyalla, South Australia.

David Macgeorge, Managing Director of SRG Global, said: “We are very pleased to have secured these two term contracts, adding to our recurring annuity earnings.

“The Pit N Portal contract was specifically targeted as it builds upon our mining services portfolio of high-quality growth commodities whilst diversifying SRG Global’s customer base.”