The first AI-assisted mineral processing book series

I am sure that any mineral processor who uses LinkedIn cannot fail to have noticed the proliferation of books announced every few days by the author Tony Escorcio, a mineral process engineer with more than 45 years experience in the metallurgical and chemical engineering fields. He has an engineering degree from the University of Witwatersrand and has, over the years, filled many roles from plant management, process development, plant design and commissioning to process equipment specialist. Currently, apart from consulting work, he uses his knowledge base to develop courses and books for mineral processors.

Some of the books in the series

Currently there are over 20 books in the series and I asked him how he manages to churn out volumes at such a high frequency. He said that he has an extensive knowledge base spanning 45 years and what would take a single author years to collate and edit he has been fortunate to be aided by some modern tools and apps. "Back in the day", he said, "we would go to a library and peruse dozens of reference books to collate the information, it's different today".

I asked about modern tools and apps and whether this meant AI and he said that this includes AI-assisted tools. He has used these primarily to help organise material, improve structure, develop drafts from his own technical notes and experience, edit language, generate illustrative ideas, and speed up formatting and preparation. He sees these tools as an aid to collation, drafting and presentation, not as a substitute for experience or professional review, the technical judgement, subject matter, examples and final responsibility being his.

He describes the book series as a practical mineral process engineering series aimed mainly at plant metallurgists, process engineers, operations personnel, commissioning teams, project engineers, consultants, and advanced students who want a plant-focused view of the discipline. They are not intended to replace standard academic texts, but rather to complement them by focusing on the realities of plant operation, troubleshooting, project execution, commissioning, ramp-up and metallurgical control.

He says that the intention behind the books is not to present them as academic textbooks in the same category as established, peer-reviewed works such as Mineral Processing Technology. Rather, they are intended as practical, experience-based guides for people working in and around mineral processing plants. The aim has been to capture, in an accessible form, much of the practical knowledge that is often learned only after many years on operating plants, projects, commissioning teams, troubleshooting assignments and plant studies.

At present, Amazon is the main route for obtaining the books. They are self-published, which has allowed the author to move quickly and address practical topics that are not always covered in detail in traditional publishing. There are several volumes either completed, in draft form, or in development. 

The recent books on metallurgical accounting, commissioning and ramp-up, and related subjects are part of a broader practical series covering topics such as plant operations, sampling, mass balancing, flotation, comminution, gold processing, project management, commissioning, ramp-up, and process engineering practice. The books have not gone through the same formal external peer-review process as a conventional academic or publisher-led textbook. They have been reviewed and revised by the author against his own industry experience, and he is open to feedback from practitioners, academics and readers as the series develops and, where necessary, he intends to improve future editions based on constructive comments.

As an author of a mineral processing book it would not be fair for me to analyse or review any of the books in the series but I would welcome views from those who have read any of the volumes. Is AI the future for book authorship?  Personally I hope not, particularly as negotiations are currently in the offing for a 9th edition of Mineral Processing Technology!

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Age Brings Invaluable Experience to Processing of Critical Minerals

At 80 years of age I am a youngster compared with some in our profession. That prolific scribe Prof. Fathi Habashi was churning out books and book reviews and giving keynote lectures well into his 90s and Prof. Graeme Jameson is still leading a team of researchers on "long term" flotation projects at the age of 90.

Fran Burgess has highlighted, on LinkedIn, an article showing how an 86-year-old metallurgist has been lured out of retirement because the Western world has run out of people who know what he knows. 

Metallurgy is not a simple discipline. Rare earth processing alone can involve dozens of extraction stages and years of hands-on experience that lives in people and walks out the door with them when they leave.

Rare earth plants are particularly complicated and expensive to build, but perhaps the biggest challenge is finding talent to run the facilities. Even if Western companies secure enough raw materials to reduce reliance on China, which dominates every stage of the supply chain, from mining to magnets, there are few chemical engineers and metallurgists experienced in rare earths.

"When companies ask me where to find them" 86-years old Jack Lifton said "start with the cemeteries, then check assisted care". Lifton, a former retiree turned consultant, whose clients include Energy Fuels Inc., one of the U.S.’s most ambitious rare earth firms said "anyone in the U.S. with experience is either dead or, like me, very old".

Jack Lifton

Separating the 17 rare earth elements can involve dozens of extraction stages and expertise taught at only a handful of universities or acquired through years in industry. Much of that know-how has migrated to China, now the world’s primary employer of specialists.

Some U.S. companies are partnering with universities to recruit students in engineering, metallurgy and chemistry. Others are poaching employees from rivals. At one company in France, a key team of engineers are in their 80s and, like Lifton, have been lured from retirement to help troubleshoot mineral processing plants.

There are great opportunities for young mineral processors in the processing of rare earths and other critical minerals. One young person mentioned in the article is  Neil Hogan, a 24-year-old chemical engineer who graduated from Pennsylvania State University this year. Neil was the only person in his class to enter the rare earth industry, recently joining Aclara Resources Inc. to help the Brazilian company develop a processing plant in Louisiana, which will produce refined forms of terbium and dysprosium. He said that the appeal wasn’t financial; he wanted to help rebuild a Western rare earth supply chain, and contribute to an industry still taking shape.

The energy transition the world is counting on runs on critical minerals and there will be plenty of opportunity to network and develop contacts in these areas in Cape Town in November, at Critical Minerals '26 and Process Mineralogy '26.

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Progress in the understanding of leaching reactions and reactors

Leaching and dissolution are central to hydrometallurgical processes. Over the last quarter of a century, steady progress has been made in modelling of leaching reactors, with large tank and autoclave installations across the globe. At the same time, progress in understanding the mechanisms of dissolution of both economic and gangue minerals has been made. 

At next year's Hydrometallurgy '27, Dr. Frank Crundwell, of CM Solutions, South Africa, will survey this progress. Of particular importance are progress in three specific areas: 

1. there is a growing acknowledgement that the electronic structure of sulphide minerals is crucial;
2. a novel mechanism of the dissolution of silicates and oxide minerals has been proposed; and
3. a better comprehension of the dissolution of salts, such as gypsum and carbonates, has been achieved. 

The main concepts of these models will be described, and examples provided. 

Frank Crundwell graduated with degrees in chemical engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, Between 1985 and 1990 he worked at Mintek, where he was seconded as an objector to military service under the apartheid government. He joined the faculty of the University of the Witwatersrand in 1990. In 1999, he joined Billiton and BHP Billiton Capital. In 2002, he established CM Solutions, an engineering consultancy, which has grown steadily. 

He received the Wadsworth Award of the SME in 2020 and the Gold Medal of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers. He was elected to the prestigious US National Academy of Engineers in 2023, for his research on the mechanisms of dissolution.

We would also like to thank our latest sponsor to Hydrometallurgy '27, mining and metallurgical services consultancy Promet101, who are already kindly sponsoring Process Mineralogy '26, Critical Minerals '26, AI in Mineral Processing '27 and Flotation '27.  Promet101 owner and process engineering consultant Stuart Saich said "the contribution of MEI Conferences to our industry deserves our support".

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July Cornish Mining Sundowner: news of progress at South Crofty

It was 25°C in Falmouth yesterday, ideal conditions for the well attended Cornish Mining Sundowner at the Chain Locker.

There was some talk of England's defensive retreat in their agonising World Cup semi-final 2-1 loss to Argentina on Wednesday and there was also news of progress in developing the South Crofty tin mine in Camborne. Front-End Engineering Design has been completed by Ausenco, and the project has moved into detailed engineering. This is a significant step before full construction.

Excavation for the pre-concentration plant is around 50% complete, with civil works expected to continue through 2026. The pre-concentration plant will remove waste rock by TOMRA sorters before ore enters the main processing circuit, reducing operating costs. Orders are being placed for long-lead equipment, and Cornish Metals Inc expects construction of the main processing facilities to follow the engineering work, with procurement continuing throughout 2026.

Paterson & Cooke is designing the paste backfill plant, which mixes mine tailings with binder so they can be pumped back underground. MEI is pleased to have this company as sponsors of Hydrometallurgy '27 and Flotation '27 in Cape Town.

The first commercial production at South Crofty is still targeted for mid-2028 and once fully operational, is expected to produce approximately 4,700 tonnes of tin in concentrate per year over an initial mine life of around 14 years, making it one of Europe's few primary tin producers.

The next Cornish Mining Sundowner is on Thursday August 20th, at the Chain Locker from 5.30pm.

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Mining in World History

I have just been re-reading the excellent Material World (posting of 13th March 2025) and noticed this time that the book Mining in World History was cited quite a few times. The author of Material World, Ed Conway, says that this is the best book that he has encountered on the history of mining, on copper but also a panoply of other materials.

Mining in World History was published in 2002 and authored by Martin Lynch, the son of Prof Alban Lynch. 

We are very fortunate to have Martin at Critical Minerals '26, where he will make a presentation arguing that substitution with aluminium may represent the most effective response to looming global copper shortages.

Mining in World History deals with the history of mining and smelting from the Renaissance to the present day, showing the interplay of personalities, politics and technology which have together shaped the metallurgical industries over the last 500 years. 

Martin opens with the invention, sometime before the year 1453, of a revolutionary technique for separating silver from copper, an event that revived the rich copper-silver mines of central Europe and the ruling ambitions of the Habsburg emperors who owned them. The flood of silver from Spain’s newly-conquered American colonies brought about the demise of these mines, and Martin then examines the far-reaching changes brought to mining and smelting by the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution. 

The book then looks at the era of the gold rushes and the comprehensive developments in mineral extraction and technology that took place in the United States and South Africa at the end of the nineteenth century, and describes the spread of mass metal-production techniques across the world amid the violent struggles of the twentieth century and the energy crises of the 1970s. 

Mining in World History was the first book to provide an account of how and why change and advance in this global industry have taken place in different eras and locations around the world. Ed Conway's Material World builds on this and the two books are highly recommended not just for those in the minerals industry, but for anyone with an interest in how the world works.

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Process Mineralogy '26: programme now available

Monday's posting contained memories of Automated Mineralogy '06 in Brisbane, the first of three annual conferences held in Brisbane, before evolving into Process Mineralogy '10 in Cape Town. 

The process mineralogy series proved very successful and the 8th in the series will be held in Cape Town in November.

The full programme for Process Mineralogy '26, including abstracts and details of the presenters, can be found on the conference website, and a pdf of the timetable is also available.  

Over 40 presentation are scheduled over the three days, including two keynote lectures from Tassos Grammatikopoulos, of SGS Natural Resources, Canada and Lucas Pereira, of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Germany.

As with all MEI Conferences, time has been made available for networking. The long coffee and lunch breaks will be held in the exhibition area, and there is one exhibit booth still available for rental.

Lunch in the exhibition area at Process Mineralogy '24

The late afternoon sundowner will be held in the Vineyard Hotel gardens and the conference dinner at nearby Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, both great locations with a background of Table Mountain.

Sundowner at Process Mineralogy '24

Process Mineralogy '14 at Kirstenbosch

We thank our sponsors, Promet101, Hitachi, Capstone Copper, AECI Mining Chemicals, Petrolab and ZEISS  and our media sponsors International Mining and Minerals Engineering.

We look forward to seeing you at Process Mineralogy '26 and to Critical Minerals '26 which immediately follows. This video of Process Mineralogy '14 will show you what to expect if this is your first time at an MEI Conference in Cape Town.

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