Blastrite and Minrite celebrate 45 years of growth and innovation
FROM a family business rooted in the late 1970s, Erakis has evolved into a South African industrial minerals group with a global reach.
While Blastrite began by selling silica sand for sandblasting, its subsidiaries are now among South Africa’s leading producers of loose abrasives, mineral sands and vermiculite-based products.
For CEO Andrew Lashbrooke, the formal establishment of Blastrite 45 years ago is a key milestone and reflects the positive impact the group has had on its people and customers alike.
A safer, smarter approach to blasting
Blastrite was built on a commitment to safety and innovation. When concerns about silicosis arose, the company replaced silica sand with platinum slag, a byproduct of PGM refining. “Rather than letting it go to waste, we turn it into a high-quality abrasive,” Lashbrooke explains. The slag is refined, crushed and screened for abrasive blasting.
Blastrite’s products are essential where steel meets heat and moisture, from marine vessels and oil rigs to large refineries. The company operates four core processing facilities in South Africa, exporting worldwide via several distribution hubs.
Meeting rigorous quality controls, Blastrite Platinum Grit® is the most certified industrial abrasive in the world and is one of the few products approved by the US Navy, the world’s largest user of industrial abrasives.
Mineral sands and industrial garnet
Beyond slag, the group processes heavy mineral sands products, including ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile, zircon and garnet. While Blastrite sells the garnet for high-quality blasting and waterjet cutting, Minrite recovers rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite for use in several applications, such as pigments, paints and coatings, ceramics and the globally critical rare earth magnets.
Growth from humble beginnings
From around 20 employees in its early days, the holding company, Erakis, now has some 300 direct staff and indirectly sustains thousands of livelihoods. This growth has created new opportunities for staff, including the recent promotion of a plant manager who started as a packer 11 years ago, while each Erakis site provides support to the local schools. Many employees have developed lifelong careers here, contributing to the company’s success and the well-being of their communities. “It’s a reminder of the opportunities we can provide when we give people a chance,” Lashbrooke notes.
Supporting the wider industrial minerals market
While Blastrite and Minrite are the group’s core, Erakis also includes Mandoval Vermiculite, which celebrates 80 years of operation this year. Acquired in 2016,
Mandoval produces vermiculite products for horticulture, agriculture and lightweight construction.
Notably, it is also South Africa’s largest producer of passive fire protection solutions, essential for structural steel in high-risk environments like refineries. Using this technology, Mandoval has recently piloted a solution with the City of Cape Town to reduce the impact of shack fires in informal settlements.
Values and pride
Erakis provides centralised services across finance, HR, supply chain, health and safety, environmental compliance, quality, asset performance and continuous improvement to ensure efficient and compliant operations.
The scale of the operation is significant: Erakis moves in excess of five million tons of raw materials and finished products annually and is the second-largest global provider of mineral sands concentrates into China. Today, the group ranks among South Africa’s largest shippers of containerised products.
Lashbrooke emphasises the company’s core mission and values. These include low cost, safe tons produced to specification through teamwork, clear communication, ownership and accountability, integrity and innovation. “We are proud of what we have achieved,” he says, “but what matters most is the positive impact we have on our people, our customers and the communities we touch.
