Editing Dynamite (section)

====South Africa====
For several decades beginning in the 1940s, the largest producer of dynamite in the world was the [[Union of South Africa]]. There, the [[De Beers]] company established a factory in 1902 at [[Somerset West]]. The explosives factory was later operated by [[AECI]] (African Explosives and Chemical Industries). The demand for the product came mainly from the country's vast gold mines, centered on the [[Witwatersrand]]. The factory at Somerset West was in operation in 1903 and by 1907 it was already producing 340,000 cases, {{convert|50|lb|kg|order=flip}} each, annually. A rival factory at Modderfontein was producing another 200,000 cases per year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.caia.co.za/|title=Home|website=Chemical & Allied Industries' Association|access-date=8 May 2020|archive-date=23 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423103201/https://www.caia.co.za/|url-status=live}}</ref>

There were two large explosions at the Somerset West plant during the 1960s. Some workers died, but the loss of life was limited by the modular design of the factory and its earth works, and the planting of trees that directed the blasts upward. There were several other explosions at the Modderfontein factory. After 1985, pressure from trade unions forced AECI to phase out the production of dynamite. The factory then went on to produce ammonium nitrate emulsion-based explosives that are safer to manufacture and handle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aeci.co.za/New/History/1980.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630050905/http://www.aeci.co.za/New/History/1980.htm |archive-date=30 June 2006 |title=Historical Highlights 1980's |date=30 June 2006 |access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref>