Closer collaboration within Africa’s mining ecosystem will be required if the sector is to meet its ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets for 2030, reports blasting explosives company BME MD Ralf Hennecke.

With the mining industry’s focus being on future-proofing the sector, he says ESG remains a primary focus and achieving such targets is complicated by the demanding mining conditions in countries such as South Africa, including deep and complex ore deposits.

“Across the value chain, there have been considerable strides in making mining more inclusive, in terms of procurement, skills development and community upliftment.

“As a blasting and explosives partner to mining customers, the company continues to advance its own ESG initiatives in alignment with customer targets,” he says.

Indeed, Hennecke notes that the collaborative approach has to be embraced by all stakeholders, from regulators and communities to suppliers and shareholders.

Mines, he notes, are changing their operating models accordingly, by setting not only their own targets, but ensuring that all players in their supply chains come up to scratch.

“This is often seen directly in their tendering practices, where potential participants must demonstrate their capability to make a clear contribution to meeting industry ESG targets.”

In terms of net zero carbon commitments, for example, Hennecke says it is clear that the various individual entities in the mining ecosystem will struggle to meet industry benchmarks if they do not have all their stakeholders pulling in the same direction.

“Such targets need the necessary environmental technology to be developed and applied, and for digital tools to measure performance over time.”

Energy Conservation, Efficiency, Fragmentation

Reducing energy consumption is a direct path to lowering carbon footprints, particularly in countries such as South Africa where coal-fired electricity still dominates, points out Hennecke.

In this regard, innovations in blasting, from emulsions to electronic initiation systems, help mines save energy while meeting stringent environmental standards.

“There are various and ongoing technological advancements in blasting which contribute to a more sustainable mining ecosystem,” he explains, pointing to a range of opportunities arising from electronic detonation systems that enable mines to take significant strides to enhance their blasting precision and efficiency.

“Today’s technology supports larger, more controlled blasts, reducing the frequency of any interruptions to the mining process, thereby streamlining operations generally.”

This, he says, has the effect of reducing overall energy consumption and also contributes to better rock fragmentation, which, in turn, reduces energy demands in subsequent loading and crushing phases.

“Combined with the power of blast planning software, this allows mines to optimise their blasting outcomes, with positive impacts on energy efficiency and lower greenhouse-gas emissions.”

Hennecke says data management is a key enabler in such optimisation of mining processes and operations.

“Ever-improving technology to gather and analyse data helps the whole ecosystem to assess progress and focus attention on where it is most needed,” he says.