JOE KEENAN BME's immediate plans for the US are to establish and develop a distribution network to serve customers in mining, quarrying and construction
Explosives and blasting specialist BME’s US segment has been awarded a contract by Usibelli Coal Mine (UCM) in Alaska to supply explosive products and accessories.
The US business was established in Denver, Colorado, last year. BME’s senior director for sales and marketing in North America, Glen Watt, says the supply contract with UCM is for one year, with an option to extend for two more years.
Located 400 km north of Anchorage, near the town of Healy, in the mountains of the Alaska Range, UCM has been in operation since 1943 and is the only producing coal mine in the state.
With a staff complement of 115 employees, the mine is highly mechanised and operates year round to supply between 1.2-million tons and 2-million tons of coal a year.
Its coal production feeds six Interior Alaska power plants, and UCM has over the years started exporting to Chile, South Korea, Japan and several other Pacific Rim destinations.
Since its entry into the North American market, BME has also supplied shipments of its AXXIS detonators to customers in Atlanta and Texas, with the introduction of other BME products and services currently under way.
These include the company’s highly stable emulsion formulations, which have been approved by US authorities.