There was heartening news for mines and miners at this year’s BME Annual Drilling and Blasting Conference in Pretoria – with views that commodity prices may be turning, and news of innovations that will save mines money as they struggle to stay profitable.

Modern technologies to boost operational efficiency – helping mines survive the extended commodity slump and position them for stronger growth – come under the spotlight at BME’s 24th annual Drilling and Blasting Conference at the CSIR in Pretoria on 3 November.

As part of its global expansion strategy, South Africa-based blasting and explosives pioneer BME will exhibit at MinExpo in Las Vegas for the first time – showcasing AXXIS, its leading digital initiation system as well as other innovations.

In South Africa’s increasingly water-scarce and environmentally regulated mining industry, BME’s emulsion explosives help keep nitrates out of mine water – preventing possible groundwater contamination and allowing optimal recycling of water on site.

Delivering high-quality bulk emulsion explosive to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean – and ensuing problem-free blasting for a two-year project – has proved BME’s ability to design and manufacture a safe and reliable product suited to the most demanding conditions.

Daunia Open Cut coal mine in the north-eastern state of Queensland, Australia, has broken the world record for the largest electronic detonator blast ever – firing 5,665 detonators in 2,683 blastholes using the AXXIS™ digital detonation system from BME.

JSE listed Group, Omnia Holdings, has appointed Joseph Keenan as the new managing director of its mining explosives division, BME, as from 1 September 2015. BME is the leading supplier of explosives and services to the African mining, quarrying and construction industries.

“Ongoing research and development has put us in a position where we are now able to customise the emulsion to suit the needs of each quarry or mine.”

Omnia Subsidiary Advanced Initiating Systems (AIS) successfully blasted 4,485 detonators in a coal mine in Australia’s north-eastern state of Queensland.

BME Namibia is building its local skills, technical capacity and supply chain to consolidate and grow its position in Namibia’s mining sector.

South Africa-based explosives leader BME is expanding its footprint into Indonesia, one of the world’s largest coal producers, and is confident that pumpable emulsion explosives have much to offer this country’s mining sector.

“Suppliers all need to add value by helping miners to mine smarter so they reduce their cost of mining...