Explosives company BME will host its twenty-first yearly Drilling and Blasting Conference at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Inter-national Conference Centre, in Pretoria, on November 7 as part of the company’s contri- bution to education and inform-ation sharing on blasting basics, applications and using new blasting technologies for the mining industry.

Attendance at the conference requires one to preregister on the website and will be free of charge as it is seen as a service to BME customers. The conference is also open to anyone in the mining industry with an interest in product development, the environment and current events, says BME marketing manager Hayley Wayland.

Through the event, BME aims to foster understanding of explosives and improve skills in the mining sector.

Topics at the one-day con- ference include the use of soft-ware in signature analysis and vibration simulation by US-based blast vibration effects consultants White Industrial Seismology international president Randy Wheeler and the use of explosives disposal technology by blast engineering and consulting firm RAM Inc. president Robert McClure.

Multidisciplinary research company GOPA Group Southern Africa joint MD Dr Roelof Botha, who is also chief economist of the South African Federated Chamber of Industries and senior economics lecturer at the universities of Pretoria and Johannesburg, will place the future of the mining industry in a broader perspective and provide an outlook on the South African economy.

BME will also offer its own technical insights, with BME senior mining engineer Refiloe Kekana speaking on the impact of horizontal planar structures on blasting results and BME blasting technology director Tony Rorke, addressing the application of the company’s Blastmap III – an advanced blast and timing design software package that enables complex timing designs for vibration control, improved fragmentation and better final walls.
BME regional operations manager Deon Pieterse will share his insights on the application of emulsion explosives, while BME West African blasting technology manager Peter van Jaarsvelt will discuss the behaviour of emulsion-based explosives in reactive ground.

At the conference, BME will display its AXXIS digital initiation system, which is currently used at quarries and mines in and outside South Africa. It will also display its portable emulsion pump, which is the company’s new narrow reef emulsion delivery system that is currently in its trial phase at various gold and platinum mines.

The AXXIS system, which enables safe and passive deto- nator logging, allocates precise firing times to detonators, enabling engineers to design complex firing sequences in a blast for achieving predictable and repeatable blast results.

BME believes the portable emulsion pump is a significant contribution towards advancements in technology, blast performance, safety and improved logistics. The pump will, therefore, improve efficiencies and reduce costs in the long run. What makes this technology unique, says Wayland, is its ability to deliver pumped emulsions in confined underground operating environments.

“As explosives remain the cheapest method of breaking rock in the mining industry, demand for explosives is expected to escalate as growth in international economies – together with decreasing grades and increasing pit depths – increase the quantity of rock that needs to be broken with explosives on an yearly basis,” explains Wayland.

She further notes that Africa is of particular interest for the company and other South Africa-based explosives companies, given the vast resources that have only recently become available for extraction across the continent. “As South Africa could be considered as a spring board into Africa, it is likely that South Africa-based explosives companies will register increased demand for explosives in coming years that will, in turn, enable growth,” says Wayland.

Despite this, she highlights that intensive investment in training is needed to enable mine operators to take full advantage of the commodities market that will remain positive over the next few years.