Sweden’s Hypex Bio has confirmed a five-year supply agreement with Boliden at its Kankberg gold and silver underground mine in the country’s north. Under the deal, starting this year, Hypex Bio expects to supply 400-to-450 tonnes of its nitrate and ammonia free explosive.
This would “largely meet the mine’s annual needs”, the supplier said.
Boliden’s Peter Bergman said the use of the Hypex Bio product would cut nitrogen water treatment and about 400t a year of CO2 emissions.
“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,” Bergman said.
Hypex Bio has been developing and testing its nitrate-free explosive since 2020. As well as its work at Kankberg, the company has been testing at Boliden’s Garpenberg base metals mine and will soon start trialling at its Aitik copper mine.
“This is a major milestone for Hypex Bio and another reassurance of our technology and a major statement to the market that Hypex is in a commercially ready state,” CEO Thomas Gustavsson said.
South Africa’s Omnia Mining last year paid about US$10 million for a circa-10% stake in Hypex Bio, saying its technology “is the first commercially viable non-nitrate explosive emulsion in the market, with the potential to transform the explosives supply industry”.