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A century of premium blasting solutions
Enaex Africa produces and distributes a wide variety of high explosives and value-added solutions, providing all the products required to execute the entire blasting process, with several types of bulk emulsions, cartridge emulsions, boosters, and conventional and electronic detonators, among others. These products are used in blasting for opencast and underground mining operations, quarries, and civil construction. Its parent company has been delivering premium blasting solutions for the past 100 years in the most
important mining regions in the world, while Enaex Africa has over 1 100 employees who provide blasting services to various mining sites in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Vision and heritage
Chile’s Enaex is the main ammonium nitrate producer and supplier of comprehensive rock fragmentation services for the mining industry in Latin America. It is a global company, exporting to more than 40 countries, and has subsidiaries in 11 countries, as well as production plants in six different countries. The business’s vision and purpose are to become the most prestigious company in the industry – delivering premium blasting solutions in the most important mining regions in the world.
The company engages with and commits to its customers’ businesses, delivering value-added, comprehensive and tailor-made fragmentation solutions to improve their overall performance and exceed their expectations.
BLASTING & EXPLOSIVES
Enaex Africa draws from the heritage of this world-class explosives leader and is the result of a joint venture between Enaex and Sasol. The company started its operations in July 2020.
Enaex Africa, a joint venture between Enaex and Sasol, brings global explosives expertise to the local market.
The other joint venture partner, Sasol, as a leading chemical and petroleum company, has a presence in more than 30 countries and more than 30 000 employees around the world.
Speaking to the track records of both companies, it is worth noting that Enaex and Sasol each celebrate a significant milestone in 2020. It is a century since the founding of the Chilean multinational, while South Africa’s largest corporate taxpayer was formed 70 years ago.
Customers
Enaex Africa customers are leading companies in the mining, quarrying and construction industries, with operations around the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, the company currently partners with: • many JSE listed companies • the largest diamond mining company in South Africa • the largest platinum producer in the world • the largest iron ore producer/leading supplier of seabound iron ore • numerous mining contractors.
Products
Enaex Africa markets and distributes a wide range of mining explosives, electronic initiation and digital blasting systems, centralised blasting systems, and conventional explosives accessories, together with a broad range of services and equipment to both the opencast and underground markets in sub-Saharan Africa. Explosives are broadly classified into three categories: bulk explosives, packaged explosives and initiating systems.
Bulk explosives
Enaex Africa’s bulk explosives are world-class, the most efficient way to break large masses of rock, and are critical in mining, quarrying and construction operations. Enaex Africa’s flagship product, E6000P, a blend of bulk emulsion and ammonium nitrate prills, is renowned for its performance, especially in deep holes.
Packaged explosives
Packaged explosives (watergel and emulsion based) are used primarily in narrow reef mining operations, construction, and specialised surface applications. The cartridges are offered in different sizes according to blasting requirements.
Initiating systems
The Centralised Blasting Systems technology enables underground mining operations to initiate all production blasts from surface after everybody has evacuated their working places and returned to surface. This improves the overall safety of the underground working environment by eliminating incidents of gassing, fall of ground and/or seismicity while people are nearby.
The Electronic Initiation and Digital Blasting Systems allow for drill and blast operations both on surface and underground to be optimised in terms of blast timing, size and results. Electronic detonators are supplied by Davey Bickford, a subsidiary of Enaex.
Enaex Africa offers a full range of explosives accessories, including cord, non-electrics and cast boosters for the reliable initiation of explosives charges. The suite of accessories complements Enaex’s full product offering. Non-electric accessories are supplied by Sasol Dyno Nobel from its manufacturing facility in Ekandustria, Gauteng.
Production facilities
Enaex Africa has manufacturing sites in Secunda and Rustenburg; headquarters in Sandton; regional offices in the Northern Cape, Rustenburg, Steelpoort, Witbank and Swakopmund; plus, all the opencast customer sites within sub-Saharan Africa.
The Secunda operations manufacture emulsions for surface and underground mining and packaged emulsion cartridges. Ammonium nitrate solution for
the manufacturing of emulsions is supplied by Sasol from its Secunda operations, in terms of a long-term supply agreement.
The Rustenburg operations produce Expanfo for supply mainly to the major underground mines in South Africa. The AN prill used in the production of Expanfo is supplied by Sasol from its Sasolburg operations, also in terms of a long-term supply agreement.
Impact in the community
As a socially responsible corporate citizen, Enaex Africa takes its responsibility to the communities in which it operates very seriously. Working with customers to make a meaningful difference in its fence-line communities is one of Enaex’s priorities.
Enaex Africa has many initiatives that are run together with customers in various regions: • An early childhood development support programme is run in collaboration with the
Department of Social Development to support 30 community-based centres with nutrition, teaching and learning. • The SME I am Preneur development programme targeted 100 youths from Rustenburg and incubated 20 successful entrepreneurs in an 18-month programme. • Techno X supports schools from fence-line communities to attend the annual event in Secunda. • Support is provided to schools in fence-line communities with Covid-19 essentials such as face masks, hand sanitisers and thermometers.
Success factors
Enaex has a proud history of innovation and excellence. Over many decades, the company has achieved goals set for employees and delivered excellence for customers as well. Most notably: • Enaex is the largest producer of explosive-grade ammonium nitrate in Latin America and has the single largest production facility for AN in the world (850 000 tonnes). • Enaex Africa recently recorded the highest number of detonators fired in a single blast in South Africa (3 876 units) using DaveyTronic detonators. • Enaex’s Mobile Mixing Units have been fully digitalised to ensure the accurate delivery of product supported by fully automated data capturing and real-time electronic availability of data.
For more information, visit: Website: www.enaex.com Facebook: @Enaex LinkedIn: @Enaex Twitter: @Enaex_SA YouTube: @Enaex
