To use all the functions of this website, JavaScript must be enabled. The following are instructions on how to enable JavaScript in a web browser.

Save to reading list Jessica Casey Editorial Assistant Global Mining Review released, Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 09:30

With the launch of AXXIS TitaniumTM by Omnia Group Company BME, which is one of the most advanced electronic blasting systems in the world, safe and efficient blasting has taken an important step forward.

Ralf Hennecke, Managing Director of BME SADC, praised AXXIS Titanium as a major advancement in the company's evolving technology products, ensuring BME's position as a global leader in electronic delay detonator (EDD) design.

"Our release of AXXIS Titanium raises the standard of the global electronic detonator market," Hennecke said. "This flagship product reflects our continued focus on the digital development of mines, and aims to integrate seamlessly with BME's software systems and handheld digital tools."

AXXIS Titanium avoids defects by strengthening communication with the detonator during the manufacturing process, thereby improving the safety level and manufacturing quality. Improve performance by increasing the blast duration of each detonator, more units per blasting box, and precise ignition accuracy.

"Most importantly, the AXXIS Titanium system is built for blasters and blasting engineers who use the product every day," he continued. "The robustness of the line, easy-to-use interface and improved integration will increase efficiency in time, data and reporting."

Tinus Brits, BME’s AXXIS Global Product Manager, said that as the latest generation of BME’s popular and well-tested AXXIS system, AXXIS Titanium takes blasting safety and flexibility to a new level: “This latest version is built on AXXIS. The achievements of GIITM build on the model and improve many functions that provide good service to our customers," he said. "These include further improvements in safety, accuracy, flexibility, ease of use, and speed of preparation for each explosion."

Safety is still a slogan, and the Swiss-designed ASIC chip is added to the BME detonator, which brings some additional benefits. ASIC provides the system with more internal safety doors to prevent stray current and lightning, improves the safety level and allows intrinsically safe recording and testing.

"A unique innovation is that we use double capacitors and double voltage, which allows us to perform low voltage recording to avoid any chance of explosion," he said. The explosion is initiated by a powerful encrypted explosion command to ensure that the detonators receive their respective orders and ignite as planned. He emphasized that the detonator will only react when it receives the correct and encrypted ignition sequence from the blasting equipment, not from any other source.

"We developed AXXIS Titanium to resist electromagnetic pulses (EMP) caused by explosions, which can affect the accuracy of detonators and even cause them to fail," he said. "Our intensive testing with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has shown that our detonators can withstand strong EMP without affecting their time."

He pointed out that underground blasting—in a confined space—makes the detonator particularly susceptible to resetting and catching fire due to the voltage from the EMP and the dynamic pressure. The overmolding of all components on the electronic board protects the detonator from dynamic pressure and isolates the components from any induced ground currents (such as electrostatic discharge and lightning strikes).

The ASIC chip has larger memory and processing speed. If the timing needs to be changed after it is performed on the workbench, timing and centralized programming can be performed more easily. It also achieves lower power consumption by combining double capacitors-so more detonators can be detonated per explosion. The system can now manage 1,000 detonators per blasting box, which is twice the capacity of the previous generation.

Brits also pointed out that up to 20 blasting boxes can be hardwired and synchronized, allowing up to 20,000 electronic detonators to be detonated in a single blast-doubling the capacity of the AXXIS GII generation.

"AXXIS has been proven in some of the largest mining explosions on record, giving mines the opportunity to conduct fewer explosions-thereby reducing downtime due to mine closures," he said. "Ultra-low energy microchips are also less susceptible to leakage and cable resistance, and extend the ignition time to a maximum of 35 seconds."

Ease of use and workbench recording are one of the main advantages of AXXIS Titanium. Hennie du Preez, BME’s AXXIS Support Manager, emphasized the one-step recording and testing of the detonator, as well as the simple troubleshooting and quick correction of the explosion pattern.

"Everything is built into the recorder and can now be programmed, scanned and tested," du Preez commented. "The market appreciates the speed at which you can fire the explosion now; after programming the detonator, you can activate the controller from the observation site and explode in two minutes."

He pointed out that the speed of the ASIC chip on the system board cuts the programming time in half.

The accuracy of the detonation delay has been further fine-tuned to achieve an ignition accuracy of 0.02% to achieve consistent and high-quality blasting for better rock crushing and consistency. He emphasized the positive impact this has on the efficiency of key mine measurable indicators, such as loading rates and crusher throughput. This in turn helps mines improve their carbon footprint as they pursue increasingly important sustainability goals. In this way, BME's technological innovation is closely integrated with Omnia Group's continued focus on sustainability, which prioritizes zero harm and positive impact in order to build a better future.

Accurate blasting design and detonation also enable mines to ensure that they are operating within the regulatory limits of vibration control.

"The command from the operator is written into the non-volatile memory of the detonator, so it cannot be overwritten or deleted," he said. "If needed, this is very useful for post-explosion analysis, even the explosion command is recorded by the memory chip."

He emphasized the technical integration value of AXXIS and BME's other innovative solutions, such as its BLASTMAPTM blasting planning software, XPLOLOGTM platform and cloud-based post-blast analysis storage. The system also integrates third-party blasting software.

"The AXXIS Titanium system supports BME's vision of customer data integration," he said. "This aims to allow customers to better control the entire blasting process, as well as customized reporting and data solutions to optimize efficiency and cost."

The commercialization of AXXIS Titanium was carried out after extensive laboratory and field testing in South Africa, which resulted in the recent acquisition of an inspection agency certificate from the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. BME’s southern African market has already begun to enthusiastically adopt AXXIS Titanium, and the system will soon be rolled out in BME’s extensive African footprint.

Further afield, Australia is also an important market for this AXXIS upgrade, especially due to the complexity of its coal seams and methods-such as coal blasting.

"Because multiple seams require detonators to prevent coal from being contaminated by waste, a longer ignition delay is an important benefit," he said.

The system has been certified in Australia, Asia Pacific and the United States, and the necessary regulatory procedures are in progress to certify AXXIS Titanium in Canada and the company's other parts of the world.

Tom Dermody, Technical Services Manager of BME Australia-Asia, said that providing customers with the necessary training to use the new system is still an important part of BME's contribution. Dermody pointed out that training has been evolving over the years as landmines become more familiar with electronic detonation technology and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has restricted access to mines.

"We now divide training into online virtual courses and practical courses on the bench," he said. “As the use of electronic starting systems becomes more widespread, training tends to focus more on specific products of BME. Mines’ blasting team can now complete most of the introductory training online, and then we will add more hands-on training elements on site, The focus is on practicality."

For customers of small-scale mining operations, quarries, construction and demolition, there is also a simplified version of the system in the form of AXXIS SilverTM-suitable for applications that do not require such a large blasting capacity. However, Du Preez emphasized that AXXIS Silver has the same microchips, security features and ease of use as AXXIS Titanium. It will soon complete the required testing protocols to obtain the necessary certifications.

Read the article online: https://www.globalminingreview.com/product-news/17112021/bme-launches-advanced-electronic-blast-detonation-system/

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd has begun a detailed site work plan for its Avispa copper-molybdenum exploration concession in Chile.

Embed the article link: (copy the HTML code below):

This article has been marked as the following:

Coal Mine News Mining Equipment News

This content is only for registered readers of our magazine. Please log in or register for free.

Free registration »It is completely free from now, no credit card required.

Already a member? Sign in here

Copyright © 2021 Palladian Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | Tel: 44 (0)1252 718 999 | Email: enquiries@globalminingreview.com