PMP's new facility to increase capacity by 150%

Pretoria Metal Pressings (PMP) - a South African ammunition and explosives manufacturer that is part of state-owned Denel Defence Industrial Group - opened a new, R10-million, commercial primary explosives facility at its Pretoria West complex recently. The new facility aims to meet rapidly increasing demand from the mining and chemical sectors in South Africa for primary explosives.

The primary explosives manufactured by PMP are supplied to AEL and Sasol to be used in detonators. Around 90% of South Africa's mines are dependent on the primary explosive activities of PMP, and the company's existing primary explosives facility is already working at full capacity, using three working shifts. The new facility will increase the company's primary explosives production by 150%.

All the equipment used in the new, highly automated, facility was designed and built in South Africa. Safety protocols were specially written into the software, making accidental omission of safety measures impossible. The new automated control systems were designed by another South African company - Vertex Automation.

Read the full article on www.engineeringnews.co.za.