Modern Mining December 2022

BLASTING AND EXPLOSIVES

AECI Mining Explosives develops alternative booster technology

T he storage and transporting of explosives and associated raw materials come with a fair amount of risk. AECI Mining Explosives has addressed this issue through innovation with the development of a ground-breaking alternative booster technology manufactured from non-explo sive raw materials. The manufacture of boosters or primers from Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) (or cyclo-trimeth ylene trinitramine (RDX) and Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is unrivalled in terms of performance and reliabil ity. It remains the preferred method globally as an

intermediary part of the detonation train due to its ease of initiation from a detonator and high velocity of detonation (VoD). The handling of energetic materials and explosive raw materials is, by nature, hazardous and there fore highly regulated in the interest of public safety. This introduces some costly challenges, says Hazel Bomba, product manager at AECI Mining Explosives. As a result, the ability to position booster manufac turing sites in more geographical areas, to ensure product accessibility, is limited. AECI Mining Explosives alternative booster technology, manufactured from non-explosive raw materials was trialed in the field following extensive laboratory testing. The company enjoyed a suc cessful market introduction of the booster during Q3 2022. As demand for resources continually surges to sustain global growth, the need for mining activity correspondingly increases. The need for boosters has subsequently increased, says Bomba. “This alternative technology opens the oppor tunity for so much more. AECI Mining Explosives has trailed and optimised the booster design to the extent that its PowerBoostTM technology performs to the equivalent expectation as the Pentolite (PETN and TNT) boosters. The use of non-explosive raw materials in booster technology simplifies logistics, has the potential to lower manufacturing costs, and creates the ability to deploy simple mobile modular plants to strategically placed manufacturing hubs,” concludes Bomba. 

AECI Mining Explosives develops innovative booster technology.

32  MODERN MINING  December 2022