There are leaders and followers in mining and Sweden’s Boliden continues to demonstrate what a leader looks like.
The circa-US$12.5 billion zinc, copper and precious metals producer is aiming to make its Kankberg underground gold and tellurium mine in northern Sweden’s historically significant Skelleftea mineral field the world’s first nitrogen-free mine.
Boliden last year agreed to buy local firm Hypex Bio’s unique nitrate-free explosives for five years, giving the start-up its first big commercial contract. Hypex Bio has been developing and testing its alternative explosive since 2020. South Africa’s Omnia Mining paid about US$10 million for a circa-10% stake in Hypex Bio in 2023, saying its technology “is the first commercially viable non-nitrate explosive emulsion in the market, with the potential to transform the explosives supply industry”.
Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel brought the world dynamite, of course, in 1867.
Dyno Nobel became one of the world’s biggest manufacturers and suppliers of ammonium nitrate explosives.
Hypex Bio founder and CEO Thomas Gustavsson previously told InvestMETS.com the explosives business was “notoriously conservative”.
“The current explosive technology that we have globally was developed in the late 70s.
“We are the second step of the value chain of any large-scale mining yet the space is getting little attention.
“The reason for that is because the existing suppliers of explosives are so heavily invested in existing technology. They don’t really consider us a threat. But if we gain momentum, which I think we are growing momentum, I think they would try to aggressively shoot us down because their entire infrastructure is built on the current status quo supply chain.
“And that will be completely useless if we succeed.”
Kankberg mine manager Daniel Bergius said Hypex Bio’s hydrogen peroxide-based explosive “could be a game changer in sustainable mining, with reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen”.
“It also improves working environments and reduces the need for ventilation of blasting gases,” he said.
“We see this as an important step forward for the entire industry in terms of sustainability performance, increasing our ability to produce the metals needed for the green transition.”
Hypex Bio and Boliden have established a production facility adjacent to Kankberg that will meet the mine’s annual explosive needs.
Boliden says that could cut annual carbon emissions by about 400 tonnes of CO2-equivalent.
“For us, it is important to be part of technology development in many areas and when it is successful, we also want to be early with implementation,” said Peter Bergman, general manager of Boliden’s Boliden Area operations, including Kankberg.
“Together with the electrification of transport and other machines this means another important step towards being able to conduct mining operations that are, in principle, fossil-free.”
