Modern Mining January 2018

COVER STORY

BME ready for the upturn Explosives supplier BME is well placed to take advantage of a recovery in the mining sector, having focused over the past couple of years on a range of initia- tives designed to enhance overall operational excellence. “The company is in very good shape and more than maintaining its position in a highly competi- tive explosives market,” says Joseph Keenan, Managing Director of BME. “We’re already seeing the results of all the hard work we’ve put in and we’re more than ready for the upturn in mining that we’re hoping to see in the year ahead.”

P art of the JSE-listed Omnia Group, BME is one of the ‘big three’ explo- sives suppliers in South Africa but is also well diversified geographi- cally with operations both in the rest of Africa and in key overseas markets such as Australasia and the Americas. It is housed within the Mining division of Omnia which accounted for just under R2,5 billion of the to- tal R7,7 billion in revenue recorded by Omnia

in the six months ended 30 September 2017. Results for the Mining division (which also includes Protea Mining Chemicals) over the reporting period were impressive, given the state of the mining industry, with revenue up 2 % and operating profit up 21 % (on an operating margin of 13,5 %) over the equiva- lent period of 2016. “We’re very pleased with the performance we’ve put in,” says Keenan. “Market conditions have been very challeng- ing so to achieve the results we have is very encouraging.” Discussing some of the initiatives under- taken by BME over the past couple of years, Keenan says the company has made a major investment in automated manufactur- to restructure the manner in which it conducts its research and development (R&D) and subsequently manages the commercialisation of products. Elaborating on the R&D pro- gramme, Keenan says that it is now being managed through an Innovation Hub whose goal is to ensure that BME’s very substantial investment in research and product development – which has given it a high reputation for innovation – is focused more closely on the needs of customers. “We need to align our R&D with the very real challenges our customers face,” he states. “If they’re mining deeper, for example, we need to look at how we can best deliver explosives to the face, in the shortest time and at the least cost; if they’re having issues with reactive ground, then we need to respond. This is what the Innovation Hub is about – ensuring that our R&D programme is geared to coming up with solutions and products that deliver real benefits to our customers.” He adds that the Innovation Hub works closely with BME’s Product Management ing, put in place a strong quality control drive and also taken steps

Joseph Keenan, Managing Director of BME.

A BME emulsion truck at an open-pit mine.

20  MODERN MINING  January 2018