The Cape Town IMPC is less than a week away

The International Mineral Processing Congress begins next week at the Cape Town Convention Centre. MEI is a media partner and will be represented by Amanda, Will, Barbara and me. 

I will be publishing a summary in a couple of weeks' time, so if you are one of the +1000 professionals that the IMPC predicts will be in attendance, please stop by our exhibition booth and let us know your news.

Three weeks after the IMPC the full MEI team will be on the other side of the mountain, at Newlands, for Process Mineralogy '26 and Critical Minerals '26. It's not too late to register for these events.

The MEI team at the Vineyard Hotel: Barry, Barbara, Will, Amanda and Jon

#MEIBlog

Metso to Support MEI’s Complete 2027 Conference Programme

Metso is a regular sponsor of MEI Conferences, particularly the Comminution and Flotation series, and we are delighted that the company is once again supporting both Comminution ’27 and Flotation ’27. We are equally pleased that Metso has agreed to sponsor the inaugural AI in Mineral Processing ’27, and Hydrometallurgy ’27 in June of next year. In doing so, Metso will be supporting all four of MEI’s conferences in 2027.

This broad commitment reflects the increasingly wide-ranging nature of Metso’s activities across the minerals processing and extractive metallurgy industries. The four conferences, Comminution ’27, AI in Mineral Processing ’27, Hydrometallurgy ’27 and Flotation ’27, collectively cover some of the key technologies shaping the future of mineral processing, from size reduction and separation to hydrometallurgy and the rapidly developing application of artificial intelligence.

Metso’s involvement with Hydrometallurgy ’27 reflects the company's experience of over 40 years in hydrometallurgical processes, with capabilities extending from process testing and flowsheet development through to plant design and proprietary equipment. Its technology portfolio encompasses atmospheric and pressure leaching, solvent extraction, precipitation, electrowinning and electrorefining.

There have been a number of significant recent developments in this area. In May 2026, Metso introduced an enhanced lithium carbonate production process designed to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from spodumene concentrate using a single-pass process. The technology combines Metso's hydrometallurgical and thermal processing expertise and is based on alkaline leaching and soda pressure leaching. Metso says the process can simplify plant design, reduce processing complexity and improve operational stability, while the company is also testing a circular metallurgy concept for regenerating chemicals used in the alkaline leach process.

The development builds on more than two decades of Metso experience in alkaline leaching technologies for hard-rock lithium sources. Its lithium portfolio also includes technologies for lithium hydroxide production, giving the company capabilities extending from ore beneficiation through to the production of battery-grade chemicals.

Metso is also investing in the mineralogical capabilities that underpin the development of hydrometallurgical flowsheets. In June 2026, the company announced an investment at its Research Center in Pori, Finland, including a new automated mineralogy analyser. The expanded capability is intended to provide faster and more detailed information on ore characteristics, mineral associations and metallurgical behaviour, supporting flowsheet development across mineral processing, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy. A Metso paper describing the multidisciplinary characterisation of critical European lithium ores will be presented at Process Mineralogy '26.

The timing is equally appropriate for Metso's sponsorship of AI in Mineral Processing ’27. In September 2026, the company launched three new digital solutions, Metso Digital Production Management, Metso Data-driven Performance Analytics and Metso Safety Performance Platform. These form part of Metso's wider digital portfolio and use operational data, advanced analytics and AI-driven insights to help mining operations identify issues, evaluate production scenarios, improve performance and strengthen safety.

Metso says its Digital Production Management solution can evaluate production scenarios and recommend operating actions aimed at objectives including increased throughput and recovery and improved reliability. The company has also continued to expand its connected equipment and data-driven services, with more than 800 pieces of equipment connected to its services by July 2026.

For a company working across the complete minerals processing flowsheet, from crushing and grinding through flotation, dewatering and hydrometallurgical and metals-refining technologies, these developments are part of a broader move towards increasingly integrated, data-driven and resource-efficient processing.

AI offers the potential to make much better use of the enormous quantities of operational and mineralogical data generated by modern plants, helping operators identify changing process conditions, evaluate alternative operating scenarios and make faster, better-informed decisions. At the same time, developments in hydrometallurgy are becoming increasingly important as the industry addresses more complex ores, critical minerals and the growing demand for battery materials.

Metso's decision to sponsor all four of MEI's 2027 conferences therefore provides a particularly strong connection between the company's broad technology portfolio and the themes being explored across the MEI programme. From the fundamentals of comminution and flotation, through emerging AI applications, to the increasingly important field of hydrometallurgy, Metso's involvement reflects the breadth of technologies required to meet the mineral processing challenges of the future.

We are extremely grateful to Metso for its continued support of MEI Conferences in 2027 and we look forward to welcoming Metso's experts, customers and partners to the four conferences.

#Comminution27
#AI27
#Hydrometallurgy27
#Flotation27
#MEIBlog

MEI's summary of the International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium, IBS 2026

The International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium (IBS) is the world’s foremost conference dedicated to the application of biotechnology to mineral resource recovery.  The 26th conference was held at the Centre de Conférences, Orléans, France from September 28th-30th and was organised by BRGM in cooperation with PROMETIA, and with MEI as media sponsor. 

MEI was represented at the conference by Amanda Wills and her summary of the event is shown below. Amanda's IBS photo album is freely available and selected photos are shown in this report.

Sunday September 27th

Amanda attended the Welcome Wine Reception and having missed the 2024 event, it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new. Christopher Bryan, Chair of this year's event, told her that they have 199 delegates registered from 33 countries, which bodes well for some interesting presentations and discussions over the next 3 days. In all there are 76 oral presentations and 91 posters scheduled.

Monday September 28th

Amanda said that Day 1 of IBS '26 flew by. David Holmes, of Fundación Ciencia & Vida, Chile, kicked off proceedings as the invited speaker with "Biohydrometallurgy Through Time: People, Processes and Future Frontiers". Drawing on his extensive experience in the field, David provided a fascinating look at how biohydrometallurgy has developed, the people and processes that have shaped it, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. His talk was full of interesting anecdotes, including a memorable swimming pool story that Amanda admitted she is unlikely ever to forget!

After the coffee break, the programme split into two parallel sessions, with a wide range of topics reflecting the breadth of current research in biohydrometallurgy. Among the presentations Amanda caught was one from Jochen Petersen, of the University of Cape Town, who discussed "Heat Management and Thermophile Transition in Chalcopyrite Heap Bioleaching". Jochen is also one of the keynote speakers confirmed for MEI’s Hydrometallurgy ’27, providing a welcome preview of some of the expertise that will feature at that conference.

After lunch, another Hydrometallurgy ’27 keynote speaker, Frank Crundwell, presented "Progress in the Understanding of Dissolution and Leaching Reactions". His presentation explored advances in our understanding of the fundamental chemistry of dissolution and leaching, an important underpinning of many of the processes discussed throughout the symposium. Frank, of CM Solutions, South Africa is also an  advisor to MEI on the Hydrometallurgy '27 conference.

The afternoon continued with presentations covering microbial processes, bioleaching, mineral dissolution and the practical challenges of developing and managing these technologies. Among the speakers was Sue Harrison, who is Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation at the University of Queensland and Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town. Sue has agreed to present a keynote at Hydrometallurgy ’27 and there was an extra reason to celebrate: congratulations were in order following her appointment as an International Fellow of the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering.

The day demonstrated the diversity of biohydrometallurgy, bringing together fundamental science, process development and industrial application. But the discussions over coffee and between sessions were just as important, providing plenty of opportunities to catch up with old colleagues, meet new ones and exchange ideas. It was a busy and highly engaging start to IBS 2026. 

Tuesday September 29th

Day 2 continued the strong focus on applying microbiology to the recovery of critical and valuable metals. A particular highlight was the keynote by Elizabeth Watkin, Professor at Edith Cowan University, Australia, on unlocking rare earth elements using phosphate-solubilising microbes, followed by Edith Cowan University PhD student Julian Dietrich’s presentation, bringing the microbial dimension of biohydrometallurgy into sharp focus. The wider programme explored advances in biomining, bioleaching and the treatment of secondary resources, reflecting the symposium’s broader emphasis on using biological processes to support resource recovery and the circular economy. 

The day ended with a Gala Dinner at the Château de La Ferté-Saint-Aubin. After a tour of the Château, delegates had drinks on the lawn, followed by a sit down meal. The evening finished with an excellent band and a bit of a dance for some, including Amanda.

Wednesday September 30th

Day 3 brought the symposium to a strong close, with the emphasis shifting towards scale-up, industrial implementation and the future of biohydrometallurgy. The morning keynote from Anne-Gwénaëlle Guezennec, of BRGM, France, on the challenges and tools for scaling up bioleaching, set the tone, followed by presentations on continuous pilot-scale systems, real PCB processing, pyrrhotite tailings and the integration of bioleaching with sulphur capture. The rare-earth session was another highlight, covering microbial leaching, protein-based separation and emerging approaches such as phage display and lanmodulin for selective REE recovery. 

The afternoon moved firmly towards industrial application, with Jan van Niekerk, of Metso, South Africa, presenting on the testing, design and implementation of the BIOX process at the Sabodala-Massawa gold mine, followed by an industry-focused round table, with Mohammad Khoshkhoo, John O'Callaghan, Pilar Parada, Monserrat Rebolledo, Jan van Niekerk, and Frank Crundwell taking questions from the audience about the biggest challenges the industry is facing.

The symposium concluded with prizes and closing remarks, and congratulations to the winners of the Best Oral, Best Student Oral, Best Poster, and Best Student Poster presentations: Katherine Picott,  Isolda Tristany Tarrés, Silja Välimets, and Katarzyna Kwiecień. 

An appropriate finale to three days that demonstrated the continuing evolution of biohydrometallurgy from laboratory research towards practical, scalable processes for critical-metal recovery and more sustainable mining. It was announced that IBS 2028 will be in Cape Town and IBS 2030 in Santiago, Chile.

#MEIBlog

Reactions to blog posts

We really appreciate all the interaction that we get to postings on the blog, mainly via LinkedIn. All the blog postings are listed on LinkedIn via the hashtag #MEIBlog. Clicking on this hashtag shows the postings and all their likes, reposts and comments.

There have also been comments directly to the blog since the last update:

When solvent extraction came to Africa
June Cornish Mining Sundowner- new and familiar faces and a great historical video
June summary- dynamic Falmouth, birthday milestones and sad news from Germany
The first AI-assisted mineral processing book series
Memories of Automated Mineralogy '06, Brisbane
Return to Chingola
Could peptides lead to a new mineral processing paradigm?
Doug Edmonds: 1944-2020, an Nchanga legend
From the rare earth supply challenge to processing solutions: Minerals Engineering and Critical Minerals ’26
Comparing the world's three greatest waterfalls
Biology's growing role in the critical minerals revolution
In conversation with Bill Johnson: Stirred Milling Pioneer
Memories of the XVII IMPC, Dresden 1991

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Could Microwaves Help Make Coarse Particle Flotation a Reality?

Coarse particle flotation continues to attract interest as mineral processors look for ways to reduce grinding energy while maintaining recovery. But as particle size increases, liberation, bubble attachment and particle suspension all become more challenging.

A recent development from Enginuity suggests that microwave ore preconditioning could offer an interesting way forward. As reported by International Mining, the company is applying industrial microwave technology to selectively heat minerals within an ore, creating stresses at mineral-gangue boundaries that can improve breakage and liberation. The potential benefit is not simply easier grinding, but the possibility of producing a particle population better suited to downstream processing.

This creates an intriguing link between comminution and flotation. If microwave treatment can improve liberation at a coarser size, could it reduce the amount of grinding required and, at the same time, create feed that can be recovered more effectively by coarse particle flotation?

Coarse particle flotation itself is developing rapidly. Conventional mechanical cells can be adapted to improve the suspension and recovery of larger particles, while other approaches include fluidised-bed flotation and pneumatic flotation. The challenge is to keep coarse particles suspended, promote effective bubble attachment and prevent them from detaching before they reach the froth.

The latest development is Metso's Sampo Cell, launched in September as a next-generation coarse particle flotation technology. The pneumatic design feeds slurry onto the top of a deep froth and, according to Metso, eliminates the need for a fluidised bed. An industrial demonstration in a Chilean copper concentrator operated at 22–28 t/h on final tailings scavenging duty.

The significance is potentially much broader than another flotation machine. If flotation technology can reliably recover coarser particles, while preconditioning technologies such as microwaves can deliver sufficient liberation at those sizes, the two developments could work together to shift the optimum grind size of the whole flowsheet. Microwaves could potentially help create the right particles; coarse particle flotation could provide the technology to recover them.

That makes the subject particularly relevant to both Comminution '27 and Flotation '27, but from opposite ends of the same flowsheet. At Comminution '27, the question is how preconditioning can change breakage and liberation, and potentially reduce grinding energy. At Flotation '27, the question is what happens when that coarser, differently liberated material reaches the flotation circuit.

In that sense, the real opportunity is not simply microwave-assisted comminution or microwave-assisted flotation. It is whether a change upstream can shift what is possible downstream, potentially allowing the whole flowsheet to operate at a coarser particle size.

That cross-disciplinary question could make this a particularly interesting topic for both conferences.

#Comminution27
#Flotation27
#MEIBlog

September summary: London, Luxembourg and France

I’m sure that everyone over a certain age will remember what they were doing on September 11th, 25 years ago. Barbara, Amanda and I were preparing to fly to Vancouver for MEI’s Minerals Engineering ’01, which was scheduled to begin on September 16th. The conference was organised in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, and later that fateful day we received a call from our UBC contact, Prof. John Meech (obituary 22 February 2015), advising us that we would have to cancel, as all North American airports had been closed for the foreseeable future.

It was a truly horrendous day, and thankfully there has been nothing remotely comparable in terms of terrorism  and its wider impact. The closest we have come, in terms of the disruption to international air travel, was in 2010, when the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland led to the cancellation of flights across Europe and beyond from April 15th, just three days after the start of Comminution ’10. In contrast to 9/11, however, this was a natural event rather than a human-induced tragedy, and the consequences for us were largely logistical. As all the delegates had already arrived in Cape Town, there was no disruption to the conference itself, although many were stranded for a few days afterwards.

Amanda and Jon obviously devastated to be stranded in Cape Town

In September last year Amanda was in London for the Great River Race, a spectacular boat race covering 21.6 miles (35 km) from Millwall in the East to Richmond in the West, passing under London’s famous bridges over the Thames (posting of 29 September 2026). She was back again last month competing with a crew of normally social (rather than competitive) rowers in their beautiful traditional Cornish gig, Helford. It was a "fun" three and a half hours, said Amanda,  who this year, shared the coxing, giving up her seat as the stroke rower halfway through the race in order to cox the crew to the finish line.

Flying the Cornish flag in London and Luxembourg

As old age continues to gently erode my days as an action man, I’m now content to enjoy adventures vicariously, watching the next two generations take up the baton.

These days, 20 km on my e-bike is about my limit, and I’m increasingly grateful for electric assistance, but tucked away in the memory banks are some very happy years of squash, weightlifting, scuba diving, skiing, windsurfing, rugby and hiking mountains. Looking back, I realise how fortunate I was to have enjoyed so many active adventures  and perhaps even more fortunate now to see the enthusiasm being passed on to other generations. I may no longer be leading from the front, but it’s rather nice to be enjoying the view from behind.

Later in the month Barbara and I caught up with Jon and family in Luxembourg. We are getting to know this beautiful small country well and its neighbouring countries of Belgium, Germany and France.

Last year we crossed the north Luxembourg border into Belgium and visited the small town of Bastogne, a strategic town in WW2's Battle of the Bulge (posting of 29 May 2025).

This September we spent a few hours 30 miles from Bastogne in the Luxembourg town of Clervaux , which played an important role in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

Clervaux

German forces launched their surprise offensive through the Ardennes and attacked Clervaux on 16 December 1944. A small group of U.S. soldiers defended Clervaux Castle against a much larger German force. The Americans held out for roughly two days, delaying the German advance. Most of the defenders were eventually captured or killed, and the town was taken by German forces.

During the fighting, Clervaux Castle, which dates back to the 12th century,  was badly damaged, but it was later carefully restored. It now houses museums and exhibitions that tell the story of Clervaux and its wartime history.

Clervaux Castle, 1945 and 2026

In the town, a GI statue and a preserved Sherman tank provide further reminders of the fierce fighting and of Clervaux’s appreciation for the American soldiers who helped liberate Luxembourg during the Second World War.

On our first visit to Luxembourg we had the bizarre experience of walking down the main shopping precinct at Esch-sur-Alzette with two giant blast furnaces towering over the shops and cafes (posting of 1st February 2023).  Instead of demolishing everything, Luxembourg preserved the furnaces as industrial heritage and last month we ascended the 250 steps up to the charging section of one of the furnaces, which was shut down in 1965. On the way we passed the massive machinery and structures that were involved in producing pig iron.

The tuyeres which introduced the blast of hot air into the furnace 

We crossed Luxembourg's southern border into France to spend a couple of nights in Strasbourg, a beautiful city in north eastern France on the German border. It is one of the main seats of European institutions, including the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights. 

The city is dominated by the enormous Gothic cathedral and photographs do not convey its gigantic and impressive size. Construction began around 1015, with the present Gothic cathedral developing from the 13th century onward and the famous spire completed in 1439.  The spire rises 142 metres and for centuries, it was among the tallest buildings in the world.

Petite France is probably the most picturesque part of Strasbourg. It’s a historic neighborhood on the Grande Île, the island at the heart of the city, and is famous for its canals, half-timbered houses dating from 16th and 17th centuries, bridges and narrow cobbled streets.

While we were in Strasbourg, Amanda was also in France, about 340 miles away in Orléans, where she was representing MEI at the International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium (IBS 2026). We will publish a summary of the conference next week.

Amanda and one of her Helford Rowing Club friends in Orléans, prior to IBS '26

And now we are back in Cornwall. But not for long- in two weeks time we will be on our way to Cape Town for the International Mineral Processing Congress, followed three weeks later by MEI's Process Mineralogy '26 and Critical Minerals '26.

#MEIBlog