Chile's Enaex to acquire drilling and blasting firm MTi HoldCo

Chile’s leading producer of ammonium nitrate and mining explosives, Enaex, announced the acquisition of the manufacturer of solutions for drilling and blasting MTi HoldCo, and signed an agreement with digital tools for mining specialist O-Pitblast to advance its 4.0 strategy.

For US$85mn, Enaex will acquire all the shares of MTi HoldCo, which belongs to Australian group MTi and has production centers in Australia, the US, South Africa and China, according to a disclosure sent on Friday to the local securities regulator.

Both Enaex and MTi serve large mining clients such as BHP, Anglo American, Newmont, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Barrick and Vale.

O-Pitblast is the Portuguese subsidiary of the Forcit Group with which Enaex hopes to establish a joint venture to meet the growing demand for digital technologies and products aimed at sustainable mining operations with low environmental impact, Forcit said in a statement.

Enaex, controlled by Sigdo Koppers, is the world's third largest producer of ammonium nitrate, with capacity of 850,000t/y at its Prillex America plant in Mejillones, Antofagasta region.

It also markets chemical products such as ammonia and nitric acid, and sells a wide range of bulk and packaged explosives for open pit or underground mining operations.

About 44% of its sales are related to copper production, 11% to gold, 10% to iron, 14% to coal and 7% to platinum.