Mining is a complex business. Imagine ‘selling a product like gold or platinum’ where the commodity price is determined and influenced by international markets. Factors like supply and demand, macro economics or a global change in trends play a significant factor in the survival of the operations.
The majority of the marginal South African mining operations that operate on the breakeven line may be rendered financially unviable by a fractional change of market trends, hence the need to optimise the operations through reducing costs and improving efficiencies.
Solar Explosives was recently afforded an opportunity to trial cartridge product at one of the africa’s leading mining companies.
The project scope was to validate Solar’s products based on overall performance i.e. Fit for purpose explosives at competitive prices. The blast performance evaluation report was prepared detailing the results and findings of the trials. Only the Solar Mining Services products were used, all the other parameters were kept the same so that explosives performance could be measured. This allowed for fair comparisons to be established with the previous product as a benchmark. The report provided recommendations for improvement and initiatives to be considered by the mine for further optimisation purposes.
It is common knowledge that proper designed drilling patterns, hole marking, accurate drilling and angle of the holes as well as explosives initiating timing configurations, remain key to any successful blast.
The trials had no misfires or cut-off’s and competitive pricing made for a compelling purchasing decision by the mine. Solar’s Superpower 80 cartridge product ticked all the boxes with regards to excellent fragmentation and dig ability. Superpower 80 is a strong, flexible, lightweight and cost competitive product.
Solar Mining Services supplies competitive fit for purpose explosives.
Charles Hurly – Marketing Lead Solar Mining Services.