Explosives and charging vehicles

Our main product, Kimulux, is an explosive of the highest quality. This product is a CE-labelled, water-resistant emulsion explosive. We also sell KP primer, capsule amplifiers, boosters and gassing fluids.

LKAB Kimit was established in 1975 and is a supplier of explosives to the mining industry and civil engineering projects.

LKAB’s demand for high-quality, effective and reliable explosives for mining gave rise to the establishment of LKAB Kimit.

LKAB Kimit manufactures, stocks and distributes proprietary emulsion explosives in bulk and packaged form. All manufacturing takes place in Kiruna, in the orefields of northern Sweden. The company also develops and provides charging vehicles for tunnel and bench blasting.

LKAB Kimit is one of Sweden’s single largest manufacturers of explosives and accounts for about one third of Sweden’s total production. Each night at 01.30 hours some 20 to 30 tonnes of Kimit explosive is detonated in LKABs Kiruna mine. In all, we manufacture more than 20,000 tonnes of explosive each year, corresponding to a production rate of about 50 tonnes per day.

We know explosives

We are a full-service supplier of explosives products and related services for large-scale sublevel caving under ground. We have an explosives coordinator who can provide around-the-clock assistance and an organisation that is ready to respond quickly if a situation should arise.

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) is our supervisory authority for explosives products.

Of our total production, about 80 percent is used in LKAB’s mines in the orefields of northern Sweden. Other customers in the mining and civil engineering industries are mainly located in Sweden, but also in Norway, Germany and England. We provide effective solutions for e.g., drifting, mining, roadworks and tunnelling. In addition to our work for LKAB, we also deliver products and provide services to explosives-services companies such as NCC, Bergteamet, Lemminkäinen, LKAB Berg & Betong and Veidekke.

Bulk products

Kimulux is a CE-labelled, water-resistant emulsion explosive that is sold in bulk and pumped into drill holes with special charging equipment

Kimulux R

Kimulux R is a bulk emulsion explosive. The product is recommended for surface and underground blasting in hole diameters from 48 millimetres and upwards and is suitable for use in both dry and wet holes. It is less suitable for use in wet, up-holes.

Kimulux SS

Sold in bulk form, Kumulux SS 0000 and 0500 are two emulsion matrices that are sensitized with gassing solutions. During charging the emulsion matrices are sensitized via the addition of a gassing fluid. Kimulux SS is recommended for surface and underground blasting in hole diameters from 48 millimetres and upwards The product is suitable for use in dry and wet blastholes.

Packaged products

Our main product Kimulux, a CE-labelled, water-resistant emulsion explosive, is also available in packaged forms.

We offer 90 millimetre cartridged explosives for mechanised cartridge charging, or in bags for direct application on rock for rock breaking and blasting of blockages, as well as our proprietary SLP (sliding primer).

Products:

• Kimulux 42
• Kimulux 82
• SLP 50

Charging vehicles

To ensure safe handling of explosives we also develop and provide charging vehicles.

Charging vehicles are equipped with charging equipment designed by Kimit and are used for application of the emulsion explosive into boreholes. We have developed two types of charging equipment for effective charging of Kimulux in horizontal and down-holes.

Kimulux R 0500 is a factory-sensitized explosive, while all Kimulux SS products require the use of a gassing solution for sensitizing. For safety reasons, the emulsion and gassing fluid are mixed during the pumping process and therefore do not form a complete explosive until entering the borehole.

As a further safety feature, to reduce the risk of an explosion, the charging vehicle’s emulsion tank is made of aluminium. In the event of fire, aluminium softens and melts, which means that high pressure cannot build. In this way, we have eliminated one of the two conditions for a hazardous situation, i.e., pressure. The other condition is high temperature, which is very hard to combat in the event of fire.

A charging vehicle for bench blasting loads approximately 15 tonnes of emulsion and additives.