Modern Mining January 2022

the complexity of their coal seams and methods – such as through-seam blasting. With multiple seams requiring the loading of detonators to prevent con- tamination of coal with waste, longer firing delays are an important benefit. “The product is already certified in Australia, Indonesia and the United States. We have already exported product into these countries, with trials to begin in Q1 2022. The necessary regulatory pro- cesses are also underway to certify AXXIS Titanium in Canada and the rest of our global territories,” says Brits. The Titanium System, adds Brits, has been well accepted in the market, mainly because of the low voltage logging and on bench testability of the sys- tem. The speed of preparing the blast and the ease of use of the system are some of the key features that have stood out for customers. “The system has proven itself. To provide context, while we were busy with certification, we achieved a new South African record of 5 209 detonators fired in one blast. We have therefore seen a lot of interest from big mining operations, due to the flexibility of the system and the ease of firing large blasts with minimal effort and time,” says Brits. Digital transformation As digital transformation gathers pace in the mining sector, Brits reiterates that the new AXXIS Titanium fits perfectly into that narrative. BME has in recent years seen an insatiable appetite for digital technolo- gies in the mining industry. “The AXXIS Titanium speaks directly to the digi- tal transformation trend, especially with regards to remote blast designs. The timing designs, for exam- ple, can be designed and emailed to anywhere in the world. These designs can then be downloaded onto the Titanium System and transferred to the detona- tors to fire according to the blast design,” he says. “We have definitely seen a fast transition towards digital information in all aspects of blasting. We believe that the uptake will increase significantly in the next few years as the information is not only useful for post-blast analysis, but also for predicting accurate blast results even before the blast is fired,” concludes Brits. 

blasting position and blast within two minutes,” says Brits, adding that the speed of the ASIC chip on the system’s board cuts the programming time by half. Reliability is another major design focus of the AXXIS Titanium System. Encapsulation with copper alloy shells ensures that the detonator can handle severe dynamic pressures as the detonator fires. Technological integration The key improvements in BME’s digital offerings have over the years been driven by the increased need for blasting data by mining management, and the AXXIS Titanium data storage capability is no different. From an integration point of view, it is designed to integrate with other BME technology offerings such as BLASTMAP blast planning soft- ware, XPLOLOG platform and cloud-based storage for post-blast analysis. “The digital information associated with the Titanium system has been integrated into our power- ful design and logging software, such as BLASTMAP and XPLOLOG. With BLASTMAP, for example, we can design and simulate the blast and then the design timing can be exported directly to the Titanium logger. This can also be done indirectly during the logging phase,” he says. “The AXXIS Titanium system supports BME’s data integration vision for customers,” says Brits. “This is aimed at giving customers better control of the entire blasting process, as well as customised reports and data solutions to optimise efficiency and cost.” Fast uptake The commercial launch of AXXIS Titanium follows extensive laboratory and field testing in South Africa, leading to the recent award of an Inspection Authority certificate by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in terms of the Approved Recommended Practice (ARP) 1717. The system was successfully tested across differ- ent commodities, including vanadium, coal, copper, iron ore and chrome, among others. One major focus area of testing was the reliability and persis- tence of wireless communication in different rock types. For example, in iron ore and vanadium min- ing, we experienced a higher magnetic interference when communicating wirelessly between control equipment The robustness of the downline cable was also tested against abrasiveness and resistance to cut across different mining environments. Up to cer- tification, BME successfully initiated over 130 000 detonators in about 225 blasts, with no major issues. Uptake of AXXIS Titanium has already begun in BME’s southern African market, and the system will soon be rolled out across BME’s extensive Africa footprint. Further afield, Australia is also an important market for this AXXIS upgrade, especially due to

Key takeaways  With its dual basis of safety, the new AXXIS Titanium sets new standards in electronic detonation  A major talking point is the use of dual capacitors and dual voltage, allow- ing for low voltage logging to avoid unplanned detonation  The accuracy of the detonator has been enhanced, reaching 0,025% fir- ing accuracy for consistent and quality blasting that results in better rock fragmentation and consistency  The system can now manage 1 000 detonators per blasting box, doubling the capability of the previous generation

January 2022  MODERN MINING  15