NXCO International Limited
NoneX™ non-explosive rock breaking technology was developed by NXCO International Limited, a company registered in the Bahamas and based in Guernsey, Channel Isles.
NXCO was formed in 2001 to develop and commercialise non-explosive rock breaking technology for use in mining and civil applications globally. NXCO has grown from grass roots to become a leading developer and global distributor of non-explosive blasting products.
NoneX™ propellant cartridges are manufactured by NXCO Mining Technologies (Pty) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of NXCO International Limited, at its licensed factory in South Africa, which provides a very low cost, high capacity base for manufacturing due to the ready availability of raw materials and the low input costs which exist in rural South Africa.
We are proud of having built an enterprise which is achieving rapid growth and has established a potential to become a world class business.
Looking ahead, we aspire to establish NXCO as a globally recognised leader in non-explosive rock breaking technology; and NoneX™ as the method of choice for all sensitive rock breaking applications.
Intellectual Property
NXCO has developed and lodged more than 20 rock breaking patents and designs, the most commercialised of which is the NoneX™ rock breaking cartridge. Several of NXCO’s patents have been registered internationally, providing intellectual property protection for NXCO’s products in all of its major world markets.
NXCO has registered the names of NoneX™ and NXCO as trademarks in all of its major markets
Major Markets
The potential for non-explosive rock breaking technology in the fields of civil excavation and mining is vast and a window of opportunity exists to create a global business which is able to capitalise on the world-wide trends towards denser metropolitan infrastructure with its stringent rock breaking constraints; higher environmental standards; a reduced tolerance to the effects of conventional blasting; and increased security aimed at limiting the availability of high explosives in civil areas.
It is conservatively estimated that the civil excavation market for non-explosive rock breaking is in excess of 20 million cubic metres per annum and is rapidly growing due to the abovementioned trends.
NXCO has monopolised the civil market for non-explosive rock breaking cartridges in Southern Africa and is engaged in a major world-wide expansion, which will make NXCO a global market leader in non-explosive rock breaking.
Another major objective of NXCO is to provide a continuous mining system for South African narrow vein mining using its NoneX™ rock breaking technology. In doing so, NXCO will provide a long awaited solution to a number of major problems and issues associated with South African underground mines. These can be summarised as follows:
- Improved safety at the stope face
- Increased productivity through vastly improved face advance
- Reduced dilution through narrower stopping widths
- Reduced Infrastructure cost due to fewer stopes required
- A catalyst for Increased mechanisation
The bottom line is a major reduction in capital and operating cost and a significant increase in head grade. These benefits are in addition to reduced accidents, an up-skill of the workforce and a significant reduction in manual exertion at the mining face in an industry where HIV is a major issue.
The total market size of the narrow vein mining industry in South Africa is approximately 115 million tonnes of ore production per annum. On an average yield basis of 1 tonnes of ore per cartridge, this equates to a market potential of approximately 115 million cartridge sales per annum. NXCO believes that it will be selling NoneX™ cartridges to at least 3% of the South African underground mining industry within the next five years.