October Cornish Mining Sundowner- more good news on lithium

It was a great sundowner last night at Falmouth's Chain Locker, with over 30 in attendance.

I was pleased to see so many Camborne School of Mines first and second year students, mainly engineering geology and mining engineering, and hope that they will become regulars over the next few years.

A couple of weeks ago Geothermal Energy Ltd (GEL) announced that it will invest around £43 million in a new cutting-edge lithium extraction facility at its United Downs site in West Cornwall, using brine from the existing geothermal wells. The investment will create nearly 50 direct jobs and support around 80 more across the supply chain, after receiving an Offer in Principle worth nearly £10 million through the Government’s DRIVE35 Automotive Transformation Fund.

The move comes as demand for lithium is expected to increase by 1,100% by 2035 and will support hundreds of jobs and shore up Britain’s supplies of lithium. This critical mineral is essential for powering electric vehicle batteries, which is why the government has now taken action to unlock nearly £230 million of private investment into two lithium projects in Cornwall and Teesside.

With the UK boasting amazing natural resources, and Cornwall at the centre of one of the most important historic mining regions in both the country and Europe, this investment will help unlock the South West’s industrial potential as part of the Prime Minister’s mission to reindustrialise this country. This builds on Tees Valley Lithium’s £185 million investment to establish one of Europe’s largest lithium refineries in Teesside. This investment will support hundreds of jobs and strengthen the UK’s battery supply chain, following a government Offer in Principle for £18.3 million through DRIVE35.

The investments are made possible by the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy and represent a major step forward in the UK’s transition to electric vehicles and another strong vote of confidence in Britain’s automotive sector. This is in addition to £1 billion of investment announced already this month from Bentley, McLaren and Nissan.

And more good news: the International Lithium Association has welcomed Cornish Lithium Plc as a new Associate Member. The International Lithium Association is a global network committed to the responsible development of lithium resources.

I hope the next sundowner will be as well supported as last night's.  It will be the last at the Chain Locker until February and will be held on Thursday November 19th, from 5.30pm.

#MEIBlog

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

If you do not have a Google account, the simplest way to add a direct comment is by selecting 'anonymous' as your profile, but please leave your name and affiliation in the comment. Alternatively, email your comment directly to bwills@min-eng.com.

If you would like a weekly email alert to postings on the blog, please subscribe here.

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