Mining explosives company Orica has celebrated the production of its 100 millionth electronic detonator made at its manufacturing facility in Brownsburg, Canada.
Orica, Vice President, Electronic Blasting Systems, Adam Mooney said the 100 millionth Electronic Blasting Systems (EBS) detonator rolled off the production line on Tuesday, marking a milestone achievement for the company and the facility which supplies the detonators to customers worldwide.
“Reaching the 100-million-mark demonstrates our commitment to customers in delivering a high quality and reliable supply of innovative blasting systems,” Mr Mooney continued.
With the recent addition of a new EBS assembly line in Helidon, Australia, another key global manufacturing site for Orica, customers in the Australia Pacific and Asia region are now benefitting from a stronger and more efficient manufacturing and supply chain operation that ensures reliable and quality supply of EBS within the region.
“These market-leading EBS technologies, combined with our technical expertise on the ground is how we deliver value to our customers every day.”
The company has also expanded production at Brownsburg to include WebGen, the world’s first wireless initiation technology in the mining industry that eliminates the exposure to high risk activities and enables new mining methods and blasting techniques capable of delivering faster loading cycles, lower cost of production and improved, more flexible blasting reliability and management.
The system provides for groups of in-hole primers to be wirelessly initiated by a firing command that communicates through rock, water and air, removing constraints imposed by the requirement of a physical connection to each primer in a blast.
Orica Vice President, Initiating Systems & Packaged Explosives Manufacturing, Leah Barlow said Brownsburg instils a strong safety and innovative culture shared by its 300-strong workforce.
“The Brownsburg facility prides itself on being a safety leader in Orica, with an excellent focus on robust safety systems and a proactive view to managing risk,” Mr Barlow stated.
“Our robust quality control procedures coupled with a strong working relationship with our critical suppliers enable us to deliver EBS detonators that ensure safe, precise and reliable fires around the world.
“We take the safety of our people and operations seriously and that includes the well-being of the local community. Our employees volunteer over 350 hours annually to benefit Brownsburg in areas such as education and healthcare. This 100-million-mark milestone achievement is testament to the Orica commitment to safety, excellence and innovation and is as much an achievement to be shared with the local community for their support over the years.”
