Omnia Holdings company BME’s focus on sustainability is helping mines to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as improve water stewardship and waste management.
Dr Ramesh Dhoorgapersadh, General Manager for Operational Excellence and Safety, Health, Environment, Risk and Quality (SHERQ) at BME, said that sustainability was no longer just about mitigating impacts of mining operations on the environment.
“Investors and shareholders are increasingly also assessing the performance of mining companies on their ability to meet environmental and social governance principles and holding them accountable,” he said at a recent customer webinar on sustainable mining.
The company’s dual-salt emulsions are one example of how BME is helping mines to better manage waste, water and GHGs. This is by reducing the release of harmful nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and preventing the leaching of nitrates into surface and groundwater.
Dr Rakhi Pathak, Global Manager for Strategic Partnerships at BME, said that, by carefully balancing oxidiser and fuel, the company’s dual salt emulsions do not generate harmful gases upon detonation.
“They also contain significantly lower nitrate levels,” she said. “Manufactured at , relatively lower operating temperatures, we use less energy in our processes, in turn, effectively reducing energy consumption.”
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For more than 40 years, BME’s dual salt emulsions have ensured optimal blast fragmentation. Outstanding performance delivery and dependability contribute to efficient energy use on mines where blasting constitutes a substantial component of total energy consumption.
“The durability of our dual salt emulsions makes them resistant to transport stress and degradation due to repumping,” she added. “They also have an extended shelf life.”
Dr Pathak said that by helping customers to address the challenge of dynamic water, BME’s Innovex 300D was also contributing to more sustainable mining practices.
She explained that water seeping into blast holes due to fractured geology was a major problem on many surface mines as it resulted in emulsion run-off and incomplete detonations or misfires.
“Our Innovex 300D provides enhanced resistance to dynamic water,” she said, adding that its adjustable rheology enabled operators to adapt emulsion rheology and flow characteristics for the most friable and fractured mining conditions. This adaptation is made possible by the company’s innovative mobile manufacturing units and automation technology.
In a more recent development, BME has partnered with Hypex Bio Explosives Technology to extend the application of hydrogen peroxide emulsion (HPE), which has the potential to significantly reduce post-detonation GHGs by up to 90%.
“As an oxidiser, hydrogen peroxide does not produce pollutants such as ammonia and nitrate by-products upon detonation,” she said.
She said that these benefits were again corroborated by rigorous product testing on a tunnelling project in Norway. A total of 26 blasts were undertaken using about 30t of HPE with the same drilling and charging parameters.
“There was a notable reduction in nitrogen levels in water and the presence of ammonia was almost negligible,” reported Dr Pathak. “HPE’s performance was similar to conventional nitrate-based emulsions, and even outperformed them in some instances.”
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Producing base HPE is also less energy intensive than the processes involved in manufacturing ammonium nitrate based emulsions, reducing the carbon footprint of the mining value chain.
BME’s commitment to sustainability, including cradle-to-grave principles, is further demonstrated by its continued use of used fuel oil as a key ingredient in its bulk emulsions since 1980.
“We are currently consuming approximately 30-million litres of used oil every year to supply demand for our quality bulk emulsions,” she said. “It is collected by a large network of approved suppliers and processed to the required standard for use as a raw material in emulsion production.”
Dr Dhoorgapersadh concluded by noting that sustainability would remain an integral component of BME’s business. This is in line with Omnia’s purpose of ‘innovating to enhance life, together creating a greener future’.
“This focus spans sustainable manufacturing systems and the development of blasting solutions that deliver exceptional performance while also meeting mines’ sustainability objectives,” he said. “Safety remains our highest priority, and we continue to drive a strong, proactive safety culture across the business.”
For the third consecutive year, BME achieved a recordable case rate (RCR) of 0.00 – a milestone made possible by its collective commitment to its Safety for Life programme.
“This achievement reflects the way we have embedded safety into everything we do,” he said. “Notwithstanding this performance, we remain relentlessly focused on driving our safety culture.”
Click here to access BME’s full webinar on ‘Sustainable Mining: Reducing Environmental Impact with Blasting Innovations’