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COVER STORY
January 2017
MODERN MINING
19
Operator filling an emulsion
bag for BME’s portable
emulsion charging unit.
An aerial view from a
camera mounted to a small
unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) clearly showing the
hole positions in the drill
pattern.
looked at – and evaluated – other
systems but chose ours based on
its capabilities, its high level of
safety and its competitive price.”
Keenan notes that AXXIS’s
abilities were well demonstrated
in early 2016, when Daunia coal
mine in Queensland, Australia
broke the world record for the
largest electronic detonator blast
ever. The blast saw 5 665 deto-
nators in 2 683 blastholes being
fired using the AXXIS system. The
blast was prepared and carried
out by Daunia mine staff using a
single initiation point and one
master control box. To design the
blast, the Daunia team made use
of BME’s blast design software,
BlastMap III, which was devel-
oped as an integral part of the
AXXIS system and which allows
complex timing designs and analy-
sis of blast results.
The AXXIS system has also
been used in Singapore to allow
high precision, minimum vibration blasting
in a built-up area as part of the work on the
city’s mass rapid transport rail system. The tim-
ing flexibility of the system has supported the
detonation of small, multiple charges in each
blasthole to keep vibration levels down while
the accuracy of the timing between individual
charges has allowed vibrations to be predicted
accurately and reliably.
Turning to BME’s overall performance in
recent months, Keenan says there is no deny-
ing that market conditions are challenging.
“Nevertheless, BME has proved its resil-
ience,” he says. “If you look at the results for
Omnia Holdings for the six months ended
30 September, 2016, the Mining division –
which comprises BME and Protea Mining
Chemicals – grew revenue by 9,3 % to R2,45 bil-
lion, although profitability was down by 8,2 %.
“We’re positive on the outlook,” he con-
tinues. “Obviously, there are uncertainties
surrounding Brexit in the UK and the election
of a new President in the US but the commodity
cycle is showing signs of improvement. If you
look at iron ore, manganese and copper, they’ve
all increased quite nicely in price although
they’re still way off their highs. Also encourag-
ing is the increase in exploration activity – in
particular, diamond drilling – we’re seeing in
Africa, which normally presages an upturn in
mining activity.
“Geographically, the South African market
is still subdued but there’s a high level of min-
ing activity in West Africa, notably in gold,
while the Zambian Copperbelt, where we have
secured a significant new contract at an open-
cast mine, is also looking good, as is the DRC.”
BME has traditionally derived the major
part of its revenues from opencast mining,
in which it is arguably the market leader, but
Keenan notes that its efforts to increase its sales
to underground mines are starting to bear fruit.
“Our underground bulk technology has
really progressed,” he observes. “We’ve