AECI’s PowerBoost changes the game in the explosives industry

AECI Mining Explosives, constantly at the forefront of innovative explosive technology, has launched its new PowerBoost booster.

“Moving away from conventional industry practices of combining explosives mixtures of PETN, TNT and/or RDX in the manufacture of explosives boosters, our new PowerBoost booster ingeniously creates a powerful booster from non-explosive, raw materials,” says Hazel Bomba, AECI Mining Explosives product manager.

“We have been developing the PowerBoost booster for some time, with a keen objective to commercialise alternative technologies to meet the growing market demand for boosters worldwide,” adds Bomba.

PowerBoost technology pivots away from the industry norm by eliminating the use, managing, handling and storage of traditionally used explosives-based mixtures, which come with heavy costs in terms of regulatory and legislative obligations.

“We have managed to successfully introduce a simplified, safer manner of manufacturing boosters, while still providing a premium offering in the market,” says Bomba.

An ongoing concern within the global mining explosives industry is the risk inherent with the storage and transport of bulk explosive material. Paramount to AECI Mining’s vision is an acute focus to render the explosives value chain safer. The PowerBoost technology contributes to this quest, specifically enhancing the safety surrounding the manufacture of explosives.

Additionally, the decoupling of the booster raw materials from the established supply chains for global TNT and PETN, has strengthened AECI’s ability to supply boosters into the market. COVID-19 and the resulting supply chain disruptions signalled to many industries the benefit of establishing shorter supply chain networks for optimised business sustainability.

Recently, this fact was again highlighted by the supply disruptions induced by the Russia/Ukraine war. AECI’s PowerBoost technology is not only strategic in that it is no longer dependent on complex supply chains, but it also provides the additional option to establish localised manufacturing for remote regions.

This will bring the boosters closer to the end user and provide a more advanced sustainable way to conduct business. This option is not readily available with current booster technologies rendering the PowerBoost a game changer. Commercialising forward thinking technology to provide the market with a sustainably sourced, more safely manufactured booster that delivers on its promise of powerful performance.