Blasting Services
A boom in memorandums
It is not surprising that the blasting and explosives sector is as consolidated as the production segment in the mining industry. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has two local companies specialized in explosives production: Modern Chemicals and Services Company (MCS) and Saudi Chemical Company Holding. However, between these two local players, an international company, Orica, is crafting its strategy to establish itself in this market.
MCS was established in 2009 as a joint venture between the French EPC Group and Modern Chemical Company (MCC) under the Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group. Since then, the company has expanded its regional production facilities. “We provide solutions that exceed expectations. A prime example is our pioneering use of bulk emulsion technology. MCS was the first company to introduce and be authorized to use this technology, transforming the industry by reducing mining costs and significantly enhancing safety, particularly in tunneling,” commented Abdulaziz Barakat Al-Hamwah, CEO of MCS. According to Fahad Abdulaziz Al-Hamwah, chief administration officer of the company, this regional footprint has enabled them to stay close to their mining clients, reducing logistical challenges and transportation costs. Through its technology arm, Orica Digital Solutions, Orica announced in September 2024 that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MCC to introduce cutting-edge digital solutions.
This partnership aims to equip the growing sector with data-driven insights and optimized decision-making across the entire value chain. “It is a big step for us in supporting Vision 2030. We see it as an exciting opportunity to bring our technology and expertise into the country at a time when there is a real push to improve productivity and sustainability in mining. MCC has been a key player in Saudi mining for years, and when we started talking, they made it clear they wanted to bring in Orica's digital solution to help shape the future of mining here,” commented Víctor Morales Baeza, vice president representing Orica Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
With partnerships such as the one with MCS, Orica aims to make Saudi Arabia a flagship for its technology. “KSA is at the center of a vast area that includes Africa, the Middle East, India, and Central Asia, holding 40% of the public world population. This super region is investing massively in sustainable mining and in critical minerals for the green transition. We want Saudi Arabia to be a model for how Orica can support sustainable mining development across this Super Region and become the partner of choice for value generation,” Baeza added.
According to Abdullah Alzaedi, CEO of the Explosives Sector at Saudi Chemical Company Holding, both companies have been working together at the Ma'aden Barrick mine in Western Saudi Arabia: “We aim to conduct an initial trial in November 2024, and if successful, it could serve as a model for other mines facing similar challenges,” he added.
Saudi Chemical Company has two subsidiaries: Saudi Chemical Company Limited (SCCL) and Suez International Nitrate Company (SINCO, in Egypt) and, overall, they have a production capacity of more than 120,000 t/y of explosives and also manufacture over 10 million units of non-electric detonators. “Over the past five decades, SCCL has expanded its footprint with three state-of-the-art production facilities for civil explosives across the kingdom. The first, built in Riyadh in the 1980s, supports central Saudi projects. A second plant, in Dahaban near Jeddah, supplies the western and southern regions, where mountain and rock-cutting projects are prevalent. The newest facility in the north focuses primarily on Ma'aden's phosphate operations,” continued the CEO.
Besides working with Orica, SCCL signed a MoU with another international company, Dyno Nobel. Among the key points of the agreement, Dyno Nobel will support the front-end engineering design and project services for the development of Saudi Arabia’s first technical ammonium nitrate plant in Ras Al Khair, with a planned capacity of 300,000 t/y. “The planned facility will produce 300,000 metric tons of ammonium nitrate and 440,000 tons of nitric acid annually, significantly strengthening the local supply chain. Ammonium nitrate production will directly benefit the mining sector, resulting in rising explosives availability, while nitric acid will support several downstream industries that KSA wants to develop as part of its economic diversification efforts,” concluded Alznaedi.
Article header image by JackBoiler at Adobe Stock