Wednesday at Comminution '25

Wednesday 2nd April

This morning's keynote lecture was given by Grant Ballantyne, of Ausenco, Australia. who I had the pleasure of presenting the 2017 MEI Young Person's Award at Comminution '18. Grant's keynote was the first of 16 presentations during the day, which will all be summarised in a couple of weeks' time.

FLSmidth (FLS) has for many years sponsored MEI Conferences. Their team of 5 has representatives from South Africa and Australia, who are highlighting the company's cutting-edge milling solutions, including the VXPmill, a high-intensity, energy-efficient stirred mill designed for ultra-fine grinding. 

FLS representatives with Mobvya Lungu and Paul Fube of Mopani Copper Mines, Zambia

Following a long-standing relationship, an Indian mining customer has awarded FLS with the largest single order for the world’s largest size steel media tower mills. The mills are to be delivered at what is set to become one of the largest and  most efficient iron ore beneficiation plants globally, reinforcing FLS’s global leadership in energy-efficient grinding technology.

The order includes the delivery of 18 vertical FTM-5000 tower mills to be used in both the secondary and tertiary grinding circuits, directly downstream from two of the world’s largest high-pressure grinding rolls, which the customer ordered from FLS in 2024. Each of these vertical grinding mills will be the largest steel media mills ever deployed in terms of both size and capacity. In addition to these mills, the order also includes the delivery of 30 KREBS UMD pumps and 18 KREBS gMAX hydrocyclones to complete the secondary and tertiary grinding circuits’ process requirements. The slurry pumps will be the largest known size of slurry pumps in all of India mining. The equipment is expected to be installed and commissioned during 2026/2027.

Italian company Eracles - Ceramiche Tecniche have produced sinterised alumina grinding balls and mill linings called ERALOX since 1993. In 2000 the company joined the Torrecid Group and have been producing in China since 2012. Eracles first attended an MEI Conference when they sponsored Comminution '23. It is good to have them back as sponsors of Comminution '25, their three representatives shown below talking to Vivian Moutinho (left) of UFRJ, Brazil and Lindokuhle Diadla (right) of Torrecid South Africa.

CITIC Heavy Industries, formerly known as Luoyang Mining Machinery, was one of the national key construction projects of China's First Five-Year Plan. The company has experienced significant changes and improvements over the past 60 years and has grown into both a national and international innovative and high-tech enterprise, a global large-sized backbone enterprise which has one of the largest manufacturing facilities for heavy-duty equipment that supports both projects in China and overseas. CITIC HIC has been involved with three previous MEI comminution conferences, in 2014, 2016 and 2018 but only once before, at Comminution '16, as a sponsor, so we are pleased to welcome them to Comminution '25 represented by Will Yuan Xinchao and Yuanzheng Hao of China and Sam Hearn, of South Africa, seen talking below to Michael Antwi, of Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine, Ghana.

I think everyone in the mining industry is now well aware of how important sensor-based electronic sorting has become and we are pleased to have the continuing involvement of Steinert, one of the leaders in this field. Steinert sponsored two of last year's 4 MEI conferences, Physical Separation '24 and Critical Minerals '24. so it is not surprising that they are a sponsor of Comminution '25, as sorting waste rock and ore with low concentrations prior to comminution saves energy and water and enriches the grade of the ore. Steinert's ‘dual energy’ x-ray transmission (XRT) is ideally suited for ore sorting because the x-ray radiation can penetrate stones with particle sizes up to 100 mm, allowing metals to be detected, even when they are not on the surface. In addition to XRT, Steinert offers other sensors that can be combined with one another. XRF (x-ray fluorescence) can be used to determine and sort individual chemical elements very precisely and optical sorting and lasers are well suited to the detection of ores with different colours, or crystalline structures.

The representatives from Steinert, Germany, John Knouwds, Lutke Von Ketelhodt and Jean Makola

Boaz Friedland is Technical Director at Energy and Densification Systems. South African company EDS was formed in 2005 and their Multishaft Mill is designed and produced in South Africa.  The milling action combines a number of processes to provide an output product to match various specifications. These processes are crushing, milling, densifying, blending and attrition. He is seen below talking to Sherry Bremner, of the University of Cape Town.

Gebr. Pfeiffer is a family-run business with its head office in Kaiserslautern, Germany, The company has pioneered the development of modern grinding, separating, drying, slaking, and calcining technologies for more than 150 years. Christian Altherr and Caroline Woywadt, of Gebr. Pfeiffer are seen below talking to James Pownell, of FLS, Australia.

Growth Steel was established in 1989 to manufacture wear parts for grinding mills. The company's  headquarters are in North Sumatra, Indonesia but they have additional sales offices located strategically around the world. in Perth, Brisbane, South Africa, Ghana, Peru, Chile and China. This is their first time at an MEI Conference, and good to see five representatives.

Another great day of presentations ended with a welcome second sundowner in the Vineyard gardens.

The Cape Point Vineyards, stunningly situated above Noordhoek beach, was our venue after the sundowner, thanks to our sponsor Russell Mineral Equipment, who had kindly invited the MEI team to join their customers and agents at a fine VIP dinner.

The MEI team with Cherylyn and John Russell

Tuesday at Comminution '25

Tuesday 1st April

A beautiful start to the day saw the four delegates from Zambia's Barrick Lumwana copper mine enjoying the early morning view of Table Mountain from the Vineyard conference centre.

Elias Habuzwima, Holmes Kalenga, Abraham Kabinga and Lucy Nshindano

A keynote lecture from Bern Klein, of University of British Columbia, Canada opened the 2nd day's 14 presentations, which will be summarised later this month.

I was pleased to see one of my former Camborne School of Mines students, Graham Davey, who graduated in mineral processing in 1991, presenting the first of two papers today from sponsor Metso, who regularly sponsor MEI Conferences. Graham is Manager, Global Process Support in UK. Metso have a strong team of 16 delegates representing Australia, Finland, South Africa, UK and USA.

With Graham Davey

Some of the Metso team

Graham's paper was followed by a paper from Weir Minerals, presented by Bjorn Dierx, Director HPGR & Process Engineering in the Netherlands. Weir is a sponsor of Comminution '25, with 9 delegates from The Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Australia and Sweden, and we are pleased to hear that the company has developed a new Process and Applications Academy, a training program designed to give graduates technical insights into processing equipment. The inaugural training session, held in April 2024, attracted nearly 40 graduates.

The academy aims to impart essential technical knowledge to recent university graduates, ensuring they are prepared for their professional responsibilities. It is designed for graduate process engineers, mechanical engineers, metallurgists and chemical engineers. The inaugural academy also welcomed graduates in electrical and civil engineering, thereby remaining open to all graduates nominated by their respective line managers.

At the inaugural training session, the academy emphasised essential concepts, selection criteria and troubleshooting techniques, with a particular focus on comminution, slurry and dewatering pumps, wear-resistant products, valves and cyclone simulations. Additionally, the course addressed the integration of artificial intelligence into these processes. 

It is good to hear of training programmes such as this, and those offered by Metcelerate, also a sponsor of this and other MEI Conferences. which provides metallurgists with crucial in-plant training, helping them build practical knowledge, make more informed decisions, and create value for themselves and their sponsoring organisations. Metcelerate's four delegates represent Australia, Canada and South Africa are seen below talking to Dale Glanvill (right) of OmniEM, South Africa.

Metcelerate first attended and sponsored an MEI Conference at Flotation '23, as did Nesch Mintec, a privately owned Tanzanian company formed mainly to offer laboratory analytical services and consultancy in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy to the mining sector of Tanzania, East Africa and beyond. It was good to welcome back Prosper Munemo and Happiness Nesvinga as a sponsor. They were talking to Ralph Hollenstein, of Multotec Rubber, South Africa.

A break for lunch

ME Elecmetal is a regular sponsor of MEI's comminution series, and has a seven man team representing Australia, South Africa and Zambia, and Brian Cornish, Director of Application Engineering with ME Elecmetal Australia (3rd right below) presented a paper after lunch. They were highlighting their innovative liner and alloy designs for optimal performance of grinding mills. 

Indian company Shri Balaji Industrial Products is attending an MEI Conference for the first time. A manufacturer of high chromium steel grinding media, the company is represented by Goutam Kumar and Rajeev Kumar, seen talking below to Michael Antwi and Geoffrey Broni of Gold Fields Tarkwa mine, Ghana.

After a long day it was time to relax.  A short coach journey through the beautiful Constantia Valley took us to South Africa's oldest wine estate, Groot Constantia, for an informal conference dinner at the elegant Simon's Restaurant.

Monday at Comminution '25

Monday 31st March

MEI's Jon Wills opened Comminution '25 this morning, welcoming the 236 delegates from 28 countries to this the 14th conference in the series and the biggest since Comminution '12 thirteen years ago.

Jon thanked our consultant Prof. Aubrey Mainza and our sponsors King's Beads, Russell Mineral Equipment, Global Met Tech, Glencore Technology, ME Elecmetal,  Metso, Eracles - Ceramiche Tecniche, FLS, Magotteaux, CiDRA Minerals Processing, Weir Minerals, Capstone Copper, Sino Grinding, Metcelerate, Nesch Mintec, Conundrum, Derrick, Maelgwyn Mineral Services, Molycop, FKK, Steinert, and CITIC Heavy Industries and our media partners International Mining  and Minerals Engineering and industry advocates the CEEC: Coalition for Minerals Efficiency and the Critical Minerals Association. 

Jon said a few words in memory of absent friends - John Starkey who died in January and Sam Palaniandy who died last May.

A keynote by Carsten Schilde, of Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany opened the day of 18 presentations, which will be summarised in a few weeks time with links to the extended abstracts.

Carsten's keynote was all about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on comminution modelling, and AI came to MEI Conferences at Flotation '23 when we welcomed the first time involvement of Conundrum, a UK company which creates advanced machine learning software for the digital transformation of the metals and mining industry, which they feel is an industry foundational to the modern economy where digital transformation secures enormous financial and sustainable manufacturing impact. The company was so impressed by Flotation '23 that they signed up at the meeting as sponsors of four of the next six conferences in our portfolio, including Comminution '25. 

It was good to welcome back Conundrum owner Mat Matthews, who was talking to  Marcos de Paiva Bueno, the CEO of Geopyörä, Finland, who presenting the first paper after the keynote.

It was good to see Marcos as he is recovering after a serious cycling accident a couple of months ago which left him with several bruises and a broken collarbone.

Marcos and Mat

Yufan Mu one of five delegates from Molycop, representing Australia, South Africa and Spain, presented the first sponsor paper of the conference. Molycop is a pioneer supplier of breakthrough technologies and cutting-edge solutions. 

Yufan is 2nd right below in the Molycop booth, with colleagues Paul Shelley (2nd left) and Oliver Samukute (centre), who were with Marnu Lombaard of Orway Australia (left) and Abraham Kabinga, of Barrick, Zambia (right).

I first met Eyüp Altuncu of FKK Mining, Türkiye, at the International Mineral Processing Congress in USA. FKK is one of the first local companies in Türkiye to produce rubber linings and lifter bars for grinding mills. 

We welcome the company and Eyüp to their first MEI conference, as a sponsor. He is with Oktay Celep (left) and Ersin Yazici (right) of Karadeniz Technical University, Türkiye. Ersin will be presented a paper on behalf of the company on Thursday.

It's always good to see the team from conference sponsor Derrick Corporation, a family-owned and operated company focused on pioneering fine separation technology, leading the industry in the design and manufacture of patented high-frequency vibratory screening machines and screen surfaces. 

Screens are replacing classifiers in many grinding mill circuits as classifying by size-only they give a sharper separation than hydrocyclones with multidensity feeds and reduce overgrinding of the dense minerals, and Derrick South Africa's two delegates Nic Barkhuysen and Wynand Erasmus were highlighting their new developments in this area.

Nic (centre) and Wynand (right) with Ali Khademi of LKAB, Sweden

Also good to catch up with my old friend Chris Martin, of RSG Inc, USA, manufacturers of dry ultrafine grinding machines. Although the company he formed in 1992 is based in Alabama, Chris is a fellow Brit, and an avid Manchester United fan, which I try my best to not hold against him....

Chris (right) sharing a Mancunian joke

Scantech International is an Australian based technology developer and leader in the application of real time measurement systems for conveyed bulk materials. 

The company is represented by George Tabi, seen talking below to Christiaan Muller, of PT Growth Asia, Indonesia and Benoit Clermont of Magotteaux International, Belgium.

The long coffee and lunch breaks have been hives of activity with much interest in the exhibition, our biggest ever, and in the poster presentations.

During the afternoon coffee break it was great to see our former Flotation consultant J-P Franzidis.

J-P (centre) with Marcelo Tavares, Malcolm Powell, me and Aubrey Mainza

And it was good of J-P to join us and the conference delegates after a long hard day, to relax at the evening sundowner in the Vineyard gardens.

And a pleasant surprise to catch up with our former Biomining consultant Sue Harrison, who now alternates between University of Cape Town and her present position at the University of Queensland.

A great end to a great day!