Maxam Ghana

MAXAM is a global company specializing in energetic materials. The company applies talent, energy and knowledge to mining and civil engineering anywhere in the world. Through a technological platform that is vertically integrated and has global production capacities, MAXAM works by pursuing excellence on an everyday basis as a value creation company striving to generate a positive footprint everywhere it operates.

MAXAM works together with clients to develop the most advanced adaptive solutions to ensure quality, safety and environmental care while improving productivity in all operations. The company operates in more than 50 countries around the globe with more than 2,000 technical experts. MAXAM listens to customers to understand their needs and develop customized solutions, combining technology with a technical team specializing in its application through knowledge acquired over the years in projects around the world.

The company was founded by Alfred Nobel as the Spanish Dynamite Company (Sociedad Española de la Dinamita, SED) in Galdácano, Bilbao, Spain. The SED merged with the leading company in the market sector, the Unión Española de Explosivos (Spanish Union of Explosives, UEE). The company began to work with the Spanish Navy, starting its defense and security business line. A temporary merger with the Spanish mining company Riotinto led to the creation of Unión Explosivos Riotinto, which ended in 1994 when the UEE resumed its independent trajectory. International expansion began in only three years, with operations established in five continents by 2001. Vertical integration and the global concept became a reality. The Nitrochemical business unit was founded. The company name was changed to MAXAM in 2006. The MAXAM Foundation was created in 2006. Strengthening of vertical integration was reflected in the acquisition of chemical plants in Mazingarbe, France and Tarragona, Spain. Research in R&D advanced with the inauguration of the Propellant Technology Center in Murcia, Spain, a unique institution in Europe, and the construction of the Energy Materials Technology Center in Burgos, Spain. The Defense and Security business unit consolidated its leadership in demilitarization activity in the United States and began construction of the Texarkana plant in the USA.

MAXAM announced the official launch of X-Energy, a new integrated blasting service addressed to optimize the total cost of ownership in mining, quarrying and infrastructure operations through a continuous improvement spiral. X-Energy combines unmatched products and engineering technologies, digital tools and superior expertise in drilling and blasting.

The company’s strategy is based on four pillars: an advanced technology platform, HR strategy, excellent global management systems, and strategic thinking process and corporate policies. MAXAM’s technological model integrates the most advanced knowledge in the industry. Through an innovation ecosystem in which all key areas of the business participate, the company works to develop new products and solutions that maximize value creation for customers. The company has the most product portfolio of the industry, including the highest energy bulk technology, own bulk delivery systems, as well as initiation systems and packaged explosives technologies.

MAXAM provides blast design and simulation through its own software, RIOBLAST, advancing towards predictive and prescriptive analytics. The company believes that data management is key to providing accurate blasting solutions through the interconnection of assets at operations. This is the first step to reach full automation and unmanned operations. A Digital Platform provides acceleration of performance reach and impact. MAXAM offers Riocloud, a tool that facilitates communication and the exchange of information in real time.

The company developed a solution in collaboration with Teck Resources which allows loading explosives in blastholes through a plastic liner, preventing nitrate leaching and protecting the environment. A mobile application was designed to help field engineers and shotfirers. MAXAM performs special projects such as complex demolitions for buildings and other civil structures. Metal hardening for metals made with manganese steel alloys can be pre-hardened to significantly increase their useful working life.

Notable projects include controlled demolition at Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy using RIOTRONIC detonators. MAXAM worked with DIAP in Singapore in the design and execution of more than one hundred blasts and nearly 1,000 tons of RIOFLEX to fragment hardest rock in the largest underwater blasting operation ever carried out, with underwater detonations performed at depths ranging from 15 to over 25 meters. MAXAM worked on the Aguaragüe 2D Seismic Project in Bolivia with customer Geo Oriental YPFB. MAXAM has more than 150 years of experience and has participated in all types of projects around the world, successfully overcoming challenges.