Mzila Mthenjane, CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, delivered the most pointed institutional message at BME’s Annual 2026 Technical Summit on 28 October 2026, telling the gathering at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria that “mineral endowment creates opportunity, but competitiveness determines whether we capture the value.” His keynote placed the burden of reform squarely on the institutions that govern infrastructure and regulation, arguing that unreliable rail and high electricity costs can undermine even technologically advanced mines and efficient processing plants.
The summit, convened by BME, an Omnia Group company, under the theme Connected Mining: Turning Intelligence into Impact, framed technological advancement not as an end in itself but as a matter of measurable performance, disciplined investment and the accountability of decision-makers across the mining value chain. Regulatory bottlenecks and infrastructure failures featured throughout the day.
Mthenjane highlighted the need for 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. Connected mining, he argued, must link mineral resources to infrastructure, skills, competitive industries and African markets. Mining’s demand for explosives, chemicals, equipment, engineering services and digital technologies, he noted, creates opportunities to expand African manufacturing, maintenance, research and design capabilities, and infrastructure developed around mines can benefit 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,” he observed, with the challenge being to convert that demographic potential and the continent’s mineral wealth into “sustainable industries and societal prosperity”.
Supply-chain governance took a prominent place in remarks by Seelan Gobalsamy, Group CEO of Omnia Holdings, who drew attention to how geopolitical uncertainty, volatile input costs and disruptions to critical inputs such as ammonia threaten mining operations. “Mining depends on interconnected suppliers, transport networks and logistics,” he said. “Disruption to a key input, such as ammonia can threaten blasting schedules and production continuity.” His prescription centred on strategic optionality for customers through diversified supply sources, disciplined capital investment and strengthened redundancy in infrastructure, supported by Omnia’s international partnerships and expanded operational footprint. He also placed safety and environmental responsibility within the same governance frame: “Flooding can disrupt transport and mining, while water scarcity constrains production. Reducing emissions and improving water efficiency are integral to long-term operational resilience.”
Accountability for technology spending was a recurring test. Ralf Hennecke, Managing Director of BME, argued that volatile commodity prices, rising operating costs, complex geology and sustainability demands make productivity improvements essential, but that solutions must address genuine operational challenges, suit site conditions and remain cost-effective. BME’s VIPERTRON® detonator, a simplified, lower-cost route to electronic detonation that retains the required timing accuracy, served as his example of that principle in practice. Hennecke also stressed collaboration, arguing that sharing technical knowledge, including lessons from unsuccessful approaches, helps companies avoid mistakes and accelerate innovation, with the Technical Summit itself serving as a platform for that exchange.
By contrast, Valter Adão, CEO and Digital Leader at Cadena Growth Partners, insisted that digital investment be treated as a business decision rather than a technology exercise. “Investments in AI and automation must start with strategic objectives, measurable outcomes and credible business cases,” he said, adding that realising returns may require redesigned workflows, new performance measures and employee training.
Evidence for measurable value came from the operational record. Hennie van Niekerk, BME’s Regional Technical Manager, presented a case study from an open-cast coal mine in Mpumalanga that had faced unstable highwalls, inconsistent fragmentation, excessive backbreak and over digging, with increased drilling and powder factors raising costs without resolving the underlying problems. BME’s technical services team evaluated the entire drill-and-blast process, including presplitting, explosive application, face profiling and blast monitoring. “Testing identified an inadequate presplit,” van Niekerk said. “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.” The interventions cut coal loss and freed 720 drilling hours annually, delivering estimated net annual savings of R7 146 113, while the staged increase in the split factor created the potential to expose a further 48,000 tonnes of coal across 1.3 additional strips without extra drilling and blasting expenditure.
Questions of oversight and compliance also surfaced in the digital tools themselves. Crivice Mahlaule, Underground Operations Manager for BME’s Northern Cape region, described 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,” he explained, noting that this improves operational visibility, supports compliance and flags deviations for corrective action.
Meanwhile, the measurement theme ran through the technical sessions. Nishen Hariparsad, BME’s General Manager for Technology and Marketing, examined how geology, blast design and execution affect downstream production, cautioning that optimising fragmentation, loading, haulage, crushing and grinding in isolation does not necessarily improve overall performance or mineral recovery. Ravi Sahu, CEO of Strayos, demonstrated how geological models, drilling records, machine vision and plant data can be linked to trace operational performance and inform blasting decisions, while BME’s software suite applies AI and predictive modelling across INNOVEX® energy delivery, AXXIS® precision initiation and the BLASTMAP®, XPLOLOG® and XPLOSMART® platforms. “Innovation is proven when it changes a decision and delivers measurable value,” Hariparsad said.
Gary Lane, founder and Director of Vuuma and past President of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, reinforced the point from a mine-to-mill perspective. “Finer blast fragmentation, for example, does not automatically improve recovery,” he said, explaining that it may increase throughput while reducing SAG mill power utilisation and producing a coarser final grind, potentially compromising flotation recovery. He advocated an integrated value tree connecting technical decisions to operational and financial outcomes, giving blasting, processing and finance teams a common basis for evaluation.
A panel discussion titled Breaking Mining Silos Through Connected Systems, moderated by Tom Dermody, Global Technical Services Manager at BME, and featuring Dr Alan Tordoir of Mining3, Junior Keyser of GB Keyser Mining Consultants and Robert McClure, President of R.A. McClure, examined why geological models, blast designs, drilling records and plant measurements often remain disconnected despite investment in digital systems. The panellists concluded that integration requires reliable data, shared performance measures and a common understanding of how decisions affect the wider operation, along with solutions suited to each mine’s conditions and digital maturity, supported by training, implementation and ongoing assistance so employees can interpret information and act on it.
Further detail on the summit is available at https://africanminingmarket.com/bme-technical-summit-2026-getting-more-value-from-every-blast/27563/
Taken together, the proceedings 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. Whether the sector’s institutions can meet Mthenjane’s February 2028 investment deadline, though, remains the summit’s most consequential open question.