Mining explosives company BME has signalled a renewed focus on sustainable blasting solutions, highlighting the role of its emulsion technology in reducing environmental impact, improving safety and supporting long-term operational efficiency in mining operations.

Speaking at the 2025 BME Technical Summit, in Pretoria, on October 22, BME strategic partnerships global manager Dr Rakhi Pathak emphasised the importance of balancing performance with sustainability in modern explosives.

“Toxic gases, such as nitrogen dioxide, present a serious health risk to the surrounding communities. As public and regulatory pressure grows, there is an increasing demand for cleaner, more sustainable blasting solutions that can minimise these kinds of environmental and health impacts,” she said.

Pathak explained that, central to BME’s approach was the use of emulsion explosives that combined ammonium nitrate and calcium nitrate in a water-in-oil matrix. This dual-salt formulation enhanced stability and detonation control while reducing the production of nitrogen oxides (NOx) compared with conventional single-salt emulsions.

“The differential in the oxygen content between ammonium nitrate and calcium nitrate is minimal. It is 1.43%, while, on the other hand, calcium nitrate provides twice the amount of oxygen as compared to a traditional ammonium nitrate, making it more oxygen-balanced.

“If the system is more oxygen balanced, it leads to less fumes. Thus, our dual-salt emulsion offers superior oxygen blasting solutions as compared to the traditional single-salt emulsions,” she noted.

She also outlined the company’s efforts to reduce waste through the use of recycled oil in emulsion production.

For more than 40 years, the company has incorporated used oil in its explosives, transforming a potential environmental hazard into a valuable input.

“BME has been using used oil since 1980. It supports our environmental, social and governance goals and it also helps in the reduction of costs,” Pathak said, pointing out that the use of used oil reduced waste and converted the used oil into a valuable input.

However, she noted that each batch of used oil needed to be carefully tested to ensure consistent quality, given the variability in composition. On average, BME consumed about 30-million litres a year of processed used oil, integrating circular economy principles into its operations and lowering its environmental footprint.

Beyond material reuse, Pathak also highlighted technological innovations aimed at addressing common mining challenges while reducing environmental impact.

The Innovex 300D system, for example, offers enhanced resistance to dynamic water, minimising nitrate leaching and preventing emulsion run-off.

“With our Innovex 300D, we were able to reduce the top-up emulsion run away by 66%. Our homogeneous product, with a high level of rheological properties, provided higher velocity of detonation results,” Pathak said.

Reactive ground conditions, which can trigger extreme chemical reactions in conventional explosives, were also addressed.

Pathak noted that BME developed its Innovex RG formulation to ensure stability and safety under these hazardous conditions.

“Reactive ground conditions can be a major challenge in mining. When certain rock types come in contact with explosives, they trigger unwanted chemical reactions. This can lead to safety risks and poor blast outcomes,” she said.

Pathak said these sustainable and robust emulsion systems improved operational reliability, reduced the likelihood of undetonated explosives and lowered emissions and environmental risk.

“BME’s sustainable emulsion technology systems offer customised stable emulsions for tough mining conditions. We support ESG goals through responsible design and waste use. We help reduce NOx fumes, and improve air quality and safety. We lower carbon footprint via energy efficiency and recycled content,” she said.

In terms of the future of emulsion technology, Pathak affirmed that there was ongoing scope to enhance sustainability outcomes while maintaining high performance.

“Emulsion explosives have been around for more than 50 years. But we have evolved. The emulsions have evolved. The technology has evolved. There will always be a place for emulsion explosives to deliver better results, better outcomes, better meet sustainability goals,” she said.