There is considerable crossover in terms of technologies and
mining methods used in Canada and in Africa.
Global
African countries share with Canada the common
predominant usage of bulk emulsion explosives, and these
markets have all seen a high conversion to electronic
detonators as part of their production regime.
In the underground space, there has been a push within
the Canadian market to convert mining development
and stoping to bulk explosives, to replace bagged Anfo
and cartridges for both regulatory and productivity
reasons. The growing concerns over the issue of nitrates in
groundwater, for instance, have led to mining companies
moving to emulsion options in which the nitrates in the
explosives are not water-soluble. In fact, many of the
mining regulations in place on the South African law
books were informed by those in Canada — from where
much inspiration was drawn in the 1990s and which
later would guide South Africa’s policy frameworks.
Mines in African countries and in Canada have similar
expectations of their explosives providers, looking to them
for an extensive range of services; the two high-level
services — rock-on-ground and down-the-hole services
— are quite comparable between these markets.
The way that mines make use of contractors is also
quite similar between these markets, with mines often
outsourcing mine construction and development work
to contractors, while conducting in-house the core and
critical activities like ongoing blasting and mining. b
FEBRUARY 2018 MINING MIRROR
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