MINING INDABA •
IGNITING AFRICA’ S MINING BOOM THROUGH COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION
By Ralf Hennecke, MD; Deon Swart, COO and Nishen Hariparsad, GM of Marketing and Technology – at BME
All images supplied by BME
Aerial view of BME’ s Losberg manufacturing plant, situated approximately 75km southwest of Johannesburg.
As all roads lead to Cape Town for the much-anticipated Investing in African Mining Indaba this February, this year’ s overarching theme,“ Stronger Together,” underscores a pivotal consensus in the mining industry: collaboration among stakeholders is an indispensable component in effectively navigating the complex mining industry.
By acting as a“ collaboration accelerator”, the Mining Indaba transforms isolated efforts into ecosystem-wide progress, mitigating risks, amplifying rewards and ensuring that the industry evolves responsibly. Without collaboration, the mining industry risks inefficiency, conflicts and failure to innovate at the pace required for a sustainable future.
The continent continues to provide immense growth potential, mirrored by vibrant exploration activity and a diverse range of minerals, including those that are crucial to battery performance, longevity and diversity. This is in addition to minerals that have long remained the backbone of African economies, such as gold, which has been attracting significant investment in prospecting, as well as brownfield and greenfield projects.
Through strategic partnerships with technology suppliers, mines, host countries and mine-affected communities, BME, a global blasting solutions and mining chemicals company, has grown its presence in Africa, where the company supplies high-quality, precision blasting solutions, delivering performance, optimising downstream costs and enhancing energy efficiency.
From Africa to the world As we expand our global footprint, we remain true to our core market, South Africa. It is our nucleus and where we believe we can add even more value by helping this mature mining industry reduce its operating costs to ensure long-term sustainability. This is against a backdrop of rising input costs due to infrastructure failures, high labour and electricity prices, as well as regulatory uncertainty.
Our continued success in existing and new markets can be attributed to our ability to provide customers with tailored solutions that address unique operational and technical challenges. This has positioned us as an explosives and metallurgical partner that collaborates strategically, offering bespoke solutions, proactive problem-solving, and continued support to drive our customers’ long-term success.
BME enters markets as a strategic partner, where we understand our responsibility to transfer skills and develop the local knowledge base so that mines understand the benefits of our solutions and embrace them.
For example, in Zambia, where BME has been operating successfully for about three decades, we started nurturing a longstanding professional relationship with a large international mining company when it started prospecting in the country. The project has since commenced producing copper, relying on our intimate understanding of its operations to improve overall productivity, reduce costs and improve safety and environmental outcomes.
www. africanmining. co. za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining • January 2026 • 45