Botswana Mining Review Comprehensive Coverage of the Progress and Achievements in the Mining Sector
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Mining companies are under growing pressure to extract greater value from every blast, improve equipment performance and protect margins amid rising operating costs, infrastructure constraints and increasingly complex ore bodies. Technology offers new ways to address these challenges, but its commercial value ultimately depends on whether better data and technical decisions translate into measurable improvements across the operation.
These issues took centre stage at BME’s Annual Technical Summit 2026, hosted by the Omnia Group company at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria on 28 October 2026. Under the theme ‘Connected Mining: Turning Intelligence into Impact’, the gathering brought together industry leaders and technical specialists to examine how digital platforms, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and technical collaboration can improve performance across the mining value chain.
Beyond the technology itself, discussions highlighted the importance of supply-chain resilience, operational integration and the ability to connect decisions made at the drilling and blasting stage with downstream processing performance. Omnia’s investment in research, digital platforms, automation and AI underpins BME’s approach to addressing these challenges.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Omnia Holdings, Seelan Gobalsamy, placed supply-chain resilience within the broader context of geopolitical uncertainty and the vulnerability of critical mining inputs. Disruptions to essential materials, volatile input costs and infrastructure weaknesses can have consequences far beyond procurement, affecting production continuity and operational planning. “Mining depends on interconnected suppliers, transport networks and logistics. Disruption to a key input, such as ammonia can threaten blasting schedules and production continuity.” Strategic optionality for the benefit of customers requires diversified supply sources, investing capital with discipline and strengthening redundancy in infrastructure,” explained Gobalsamy.
He also highlighted the operational implications of environmental pressures and infrastructure constraints. “Flooding can disrupt transport and mining, while water scarcity constraints production. Reducing emissions and improving water efficiency are integral to long-term operational resilience,” said Gobalsamy. For BME Managing Director Ralf Hennecke, technology investment must be grounded in the practical realities of mining operations. With commodity price volatility, rising costs, complex geology and sustainability requirements placing pressure on margins, solutions must deliver operational value rather than simply introduce new systems. He noted, “Volatile commodity prices, rising operating costs, complex geology and sustainability demands make productivity improvements essential. However, solutions must address genuine operational challenges, suit site conditions and remain cost-effective.”
BME’s VIPERTRON® detonator illustrates this approach, offering a simplified, lower-cost option for adopting electronic detonators while retaining the required timing accuracy. Hennecke also emphasised the importance of technical collaboration, arguing that the exchange of knowledge, including lessons from unsuccessful approaches, can help mining companies avoid costly mistakes and accelerate innovation. The commercial case for digital transformation was further explored by Valter Adão, Chief Executive Officer and Digital Leader at Cadena Growth Partners. He argued that technology investments should be evaluated against clearly defined business objectives and measurable returns. “Investments in AI and automation must start with strategic objectives, measurable outcomes and credible business cases. Realising returns may also require redesigned workflows, new performance measures and employee training,” said Adao.
This perspective reflects a wider challenge facing the mining sector as digital systems can generate extensive operational data, but their value depends on whether employees can interpret the information and use it to improve decisions. Connecting technical decisions across the mining value chain was a central theme of Nishen Hariparsad, General Manager for Technology and Marketing at BME. He examined how geology, blast design and execution influence downstream production, highlighting the limitations of optimising individual stages without considering their impact on overall mine performance. Harisparsad noted, “Optimising fragmentation, loading, haulage, crushing and grinding in isolation does not necessarily improve overall performance or mineral recovery.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Strayos, Ravi Sahu, demonstrated how geological models, drilling records, machine vision and plant data can be connected to trace operational performance and inform better blasting decisions. BME’s software suite applies AI and predictive modelling to evaluate alternatives and optimise blast design, linking INNOVEX® energy delivery and AXXIS® precision initiation with its BLASTMAP®, XPLOLOG® and XPLOSMART® digital platforms. Harisparsad said, “Innovation is proven when it changes a decision and delivers measurable value.” He also highlighted Omnia’s investment in research, digital capability and automation.
The practical application of these systems was illustrated by the Underground Operations Manager for BME’s Northern Cape region, Civice Mahlaule. He explained how XPLOLOG® Underground replaces paper-based processes with structured digital blast surveys and equipment maintenance records. “Our offline-capable Android app tracks blast survey progress, compares planned and actual execution, and syncs data to an online dashboard when connectivity returns,” explained Mahlaule. This improves operational visibility, supports compliance and flags deviations for corrective action.
The importance of evaluating blasting through its impact on the entire operation was reinforced by the Founder and Director of Vuuma and past President of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), Gary Lane. Drawing on the mine-to-mill approach, he cautioned that improvements in fragmentation do not automatically translate into better mineral recovery. “Finer blast fragmentation, for example, does not automatically improve recovery. It may increase throughput while reducing SAG mill power utilisation and producing a coarser final grind, potentially compromising flotation recovery,” said Lane. He advocated an integrated value tree connecting technical decisions to operational and financial outcomes. This gives blasting, processing and finance teams a common basis for evaluating alternatives rather than judging performance through isolated departmental measures.
A case study presented by BME Regional Technical Manager Hennie van Niekerk demonstrated how a more integrated approach to drill-and-blast challenges can generate measurable financial and operational gains. An open-cast coal mine in Mpumalanga was experiencing unstable highwalls, inconsistent fragmentation, excessive backbreak and over-digging. Increasing drilling and powder factors had raised costs without resolving the underlying problems. BME’s technical services team assessed the wider drill-and-blast process, including presplitting, explosive application, face profiling and blast monitoring. “Testing identified an inadequate presplit. Adjusting the split factor from 0.3 kg/m² to 0.8 kg/m² in stages, based on the specific rock conditions, helped improve blast movement and fragmentation while reducing toes, vibration and fly rock,” said van Niekerk.
The resulting improvements cut coal loss and freed 720 drilling hours annually, delivering estimated net annual savings of R7 146 113. Increasing the split factor in stages from 0.3 to 0.6 and then 0.8 kg/m² also created the potential to expose a further 48,000 tonnes of coal across 1.3 additional strips, without extra drilling and blasting expenditure. Beyond individual technologies and case studies, the summit examined a persistent structural challenge: the disconnect between technical systems and departments within mining operations. A panel discussion, ‘Breaking Mining Silos Through Connected Systems’, moderated by Tom Dermody, Global Technical Services Manager at BME, brought together Alan Tordoir, Director of Mining Technology and Portfolio Integration at Mining3, the Director of GB Keyser Mining Consultants, Junior Keyser and Robert McClure, President of R.A. McClure.
The panellists explored why geological models, blast designs, drilling records and plant measurements often remain disconnected despite investment in digital systems. They emphasised the need for reliable data, shared performance measures and a common understanding of how operational decisions affect the wider mine. Training, implementation and ongoing support were also identified as essential to ensuring employees can interpret information and act on it. The discussion broadened into the competitiveness of Africa’s mining industry during a keynote address by the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA), Mzila Mthenjane,. He highlighted the infrastructure, industrial capacity and skills required to translate mineral wealth into sustainable economic value. “Mineral endowment creates opportunity but competitiveness determines whether we capture the value,” said Mthejane.
Unreliable rail infrastructure and high electricity costs, he argued, can undermine even technologically advanced mines and efficient processing plants. Connected mining must therefore extend beyond individual operations to encompass infrastructure, skills, competitive industries and African markets. Mthenjane highlighted the Government and Business Partnership’s work to unlock at least R50 billion in potential mining investment by February 2028, while reducing regulatory delays and restoring investor confidence. Mining’s demand for explosives, chemicals, equipment, engineering services and digital technologies also presents opportunities to strengthen African manufacturing, maintenance, research and design capabilities. Infrastructure developed around mining operations can deliver wider benefits to other industries and communities.
Realising this potential requires beneficiation, regional integration and investment in people. “Africa’s youthful and growing population is also a major economic asset. The challenge is to convert this demographic potential and the continent’s mineral wealth into sustainable industries and societal prosperity,” concluded Mthejane. The summit reinforced how Omnia’s investment in research and development, digital platforms, automation and AI enables BME to connect products, data and technical expertise across the mining value chain, helping its customers turn connected mining into measurable impact.
