Blasting services company Enaex Africa has recently approved a R16-million investment in the pioneer Enaex Electronic Initiation Systems assembly plant in Africa.

This local assembly facility will be located in the company’s Enaex Africa Secunda Complex in South Africa and is expected to start operating in the next 24 to 28 months.

Enaex Africa, previously Sasol Explosives, has been supplying the local market with DaveyTronic detonators since 2011.

These detonators have been sourced under a distribution agreement with Davey Bickford, based in France.

Enaex Africa notes that, while this relationship has proven successful, the challenges of supply during Covid-19 and the expectations of local content as prescribed by the Mining Charter III, have made it rethink how it provides products and services to its customers.

Therefore, getting a local assembly facility up and running has been defined by Enaex Africa as a top priority for this year. 

As a result of this local facility, customers will have security of supply of Enaex’s electronic detonators, assembled locally; while the company will contribute positively to the Secunda economy by creating more jobs in the local community, the company acclaims.

At full capacity, the new assembly plant will produce 800 000 detonators a year. 

Meanwhile, at the end of April, Enaex Africa inaugurated an explosives distribution plant at Weilaagte, about 15 km south of Delmas, Mpumalanga.

The plant is intended to supply about 2 000 t of explosives monthly to the company’s customers in and around the area.

The company says this represents a huge milestone for Enaex, as it is the first newly inaugurated facility since Enaex Africa started operations in July 2020.

About R15-million was invested in the plant and various local job opportunities were created.

With regard to growth in the company’s existing production facilities, around R10-million was approved for the expansion of its current bulk emulsion facility in Secunda.

This is the first phase of planned future capacity expansions at this site and will further impact positively on the economy of the Secunda community, the company enthuses.