Global Mining Review January/February 2022

Page 53

Ralf Hennecke, BME, part of the Omnia Group, South Africa, details how blasting technology can help mines with their long-term contribution to sustainability.

W

ith the mining sector’s long-term vision and focus on sustainability, the strategic contribution of electronic detonators and emulsion explosives in blasting is growing significantly. The use of electronic detonators and emulsions have been instrumental in supporting the mining industry’s drive towards the mine of the future. In many ways, sustainability today is really the cornerstone of mining’s philosophy and operation. Blasting technology has been evolving in a similar direction to align with the key underlying priorities of customers, and to promote the sustainability agenda. Emulsion explosives are now the dominant blasting medium in opencast mining in most parts of the world,

and are finding their place increasingly in many underground applications also. There are many reasons for this, not least the ability to make mine sites safer and more efficient. As a key aspect of overall commercial sustainability, safety has never been more important to a mine than it is now. Being inert until sensitised in the blast hole, emulsions provide high levels of safety and ease of transport – unlike Class 1 explosives. Rather than safety being an added cost or obstacle to productivity, mining today increasingly recognises that safety underpins a streamlined and efficient operation. There is also a safety benefit beyond the mine, as emulsions cannot easily be used to create explosions by

global mining review // January/February 2022

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