EXPLOSIVES AND BLASTING
Hanwha says its lowdensity range is creating
quite a lot of customer
interest and success
where it is being used
Hanwha offers a broad range of bulk
explosives, but in particular, Kennedy says its
low-density range is creating quite a lot of
customer interest and success where it is being
used. Kennedy states: “Broadly speaking if a
mine could use low cost ANFO, it would. The
introduction of water in the hole adds substantial
cost in generic high density emulsion based
products. Our hybrid range provides water proof
explosives at densities towards ideal ANFO whilst
not compromising on effective energy. This is
compelling in total cost management for our
customers. These low-density products can be
loaded below the density typically deployed by
other players. The industry is becoming far more
aware of cost per hole, not just cost per tonne,
hence truly evaluating the real total cost. Our
bulk range is a market leader on this key metric.”
The low-density products offer customers the
ability to achieve the desired outcomes using
less explosives. “We have simple calculators for
our customers to use in any evaluation which
clearly demonstrates this point of difference.
These products also remove the variability of
chemical gassing and enable stemming and
decking directly after loaded with no wait times.”
Also, these products have an inherent
stability, which leads to excellent fume control. In
addition, Hanwha does not operate large-scale
ammonium nitrate plants and therefore is
unconstrained when offering customers products
which are less reliant on porous ammonium
nitrate prills.
Kennedy adds: “Technology is still very
important to customers, but they do not want to
pay for excessive R&D programs, nor should they.
I think technology is better in the blasthole and
not sitting in a laboratory. Also running
businesses with lean structures in line with our
customers is something that we think is
important. Nobody can afford to carr