Close encounters with a wild dolphin

August is always a quieter time, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, where many families are away on holiday. So, today's blog is something a little different from the usual- a look back at a magical couple of months in Cornwall almost half a century ago.

This summer has been unusually hot, and thousands of visitors have taken to the sea. Many have joined wildlife safari trips along the Cornish coast, where the relatively warm waters, influenced by the Gulf Stream, attract an abundance of marine life. Seals are a familiar sight, while basking sharks, the world's second-largest fish, are regular seasonal visitors. Dolphins, however, are always the favourites, delighting passengers and photographers alike.

Dolphins are usually seen in pods, but in early 1978 a solitary male bottlenose dolphin made Falmouth his home. Soon affectionately known by locals as "Beaky", he became something of a celebrity, enchanting residents and visitors alike. For a remarkable period, he chose the harbour and surrounding waters as his territory, creating unforgettable encounters for those lucky enough to meet him. 

The safe waters of the harbour were a favoured location for Camborne School of Mines (CSM) divers to undertake their open water training and it must have been an unforgettable experience for them to share the water with a 350 kg dolphin.

Novice CSM diver and Beaky in Falmouth Harbour

One novice CSM diver, however, probably wished he could forget his first meeting with Beaky.

As Diving Officer for both the CSM and Falmouth branches of the British Sub-Aqua Club, I spent many Sunday mornings supervising students on their first shallow open-water dives. One such dive took place in the rocky gullies off Pendennis Headland, at the mouth of the Fal Estuary.

Beaky and CSM divers off Pendennis Headland

Keeping a close eye on the stream of bubbles from a novice and his experienced Falmouth club buddy, I noticed a familiar dorsal fin approaching. Moments later the fin disappeared beneath the surface, only to be replaced by an explosion of bubbles and the student bursting from the water shouting, "Shark! Shark!"

Still visibly shaken, he later explained what had happened. He had felt a firm nudge in the middle of his back and, turning round, found himself face to face with a large dark shape, a towering dorsal fin and two beady eyes. It was hardly surprising that his imagination ran wild, this was only two years after the release of the movie Jaws!

For the more experienced divers, deeper dives were made in Falmouth Bay from the 24-foot Pisces, skippered by local fisherman Ken Dunstan. Ken had recently been one of the four-man team to make the first deep dive on the wreck of the Rinovia (see post of 22 February 2024).

Beaky soon became familiar with the sound of Pisces and regularly accompanied us on our dives. He would even join us on deep wreck dives for five minutes or so before returning to the surface for air, only to reappear and continue swimming alongside us. 

Word of these remarkable encounters inevitably spread, and in early 1978 we were contacted by the BBC's Blue Peter, then at the height of its popularity as the world's longest-running children's television programme. The production team wanted to see whether Beaky might feature in the programme, so they sent a young researcher to spend a day aboard Pisces in search of Cornwall's famous dolphin.

The search proved remarkably short. Just minutes after leaving Falmouth Harbour, Beaky appeared. We dropped anchor and slipped into the water, where he immediately treated us to one of his wonderful displays, much to the delight of our visitor.

Bottlenose dolphins can reach speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h), and one of Beaky's favourite antics was as exhilarating as it was startling. He would charge towards you at full speed before suddenly slamming on the brakes just a few feet away, sending a wall of water crashing over your head. The first time it happened it was impossible not to flinch,until you realised he seemed to take as much pleasure in the surprise as we did.

At one point Ken and his seven-year-old daughter, Nicola, entered the water together. Beaky gently approached them before allowing Nicola to hold his dorsal fin as he slowly carried her in a small circle. It was one of those magical moments that none of us present would ever forget.

Nicola is introduced to Beaky....

Before holding on for a memorable ride

It was February, however, and before long the cold drove us back towards the boat. Beaky, though, clearly hadn't finished playing.

He disappeared beneath the surface and reappeared a minute later with the anchor line draped around his beak. Then, to everyone's amusement, he gently towed Pisces just beyond our reach. After several more minutes of his playful antics, we eventually managed to climb aboard. Our Blue Peter researcher was completely captivated by both Beaky and her first visit to Cornwall, promising that the full production team would soon be returning.

Towing the boat out of reach!

I wish there was a happy end to this story, but that was the last we ever saw of Beaky. Shortly after this episode a series of major winter storms hit the area and Beaky was never seen again. No one knows what became of him. He may simply have moved on, died naturally, or perhaps fallen victim to human activity. There has never been any definitive explanation.

Whatever his fate, those few magical months remain one of my most treasured memories of life beneath the waters of Cornwall. Everyone who encountered Beaky carried away a story to tell, and nearly fifty years later, he is still remembered with great affection by those fortunate enough to have shared his extraordinary world.

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Congratulations Mari Lundström on the award of the Faraday Medal

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Electrochemistry Interest Group Faraday Medal is one of the most prestigious international awards in electrochemistry. It is presented annually by the RSC to recognise outstanding mid-career electrochemists working outside the UK and Ireland.

The 2026 Faraday Medal has been awarded to Mari Lundström, Professor of Hydrometallurgy at Aalto University, Finland. The award will be presented this month at Electrochem 2026 in York, UK, where she will also deliver the Faraday Medal Lecture.

Mari (2nd left) at an IOM3 conference in Cambridge in 2015 with
Barry and Barbara Wills, Stephen Neethling and Nick Wilshaw

Professor Lundström is internationally recognised for her pioneering work in electrochemical and hydrometallurgical processes for the sustainable recovery of critical and precious metals. Her research focuses on:

• Electrochemical extraction and refining of metals.
• Recycling of lithium-ion batteries and electronic waste.
• Recovery of critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and precious metals.
• Designing low-carbon, circular-economy processes for metal production.
• Bridging fundamental electrochemistry with industrial-scale implementation.

Her work has become particularly important as demand for battery materials has grown rapidly due to electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies. We are hoping that Mari might present her work at Hydrometallurgy '27 in Cape Town next year and that we might also see her at Critical Minerals '26 in November.

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July summary: Memories of 60 years ago; another heatwave and another PM

 Sixty years ago today Barbara and I were travelling from Lancashire to Kent for a family holiday. The roads were relatively quiet in those days, but on that Saturday they were almost deserted. The recently opened M1 motorway was eerily quiet, but the few vehicles on the road would periodically sound their horns and flash their headlights in unison. They were celebrating the four goals scored by England against West Germany in the FIFA World Cup final at Wembley.

It now seems so long ago; Barbara and I were 19 and 20 and now hat-trick scorer Sir Geoff Hurst, who. like us, was born in Ashton-u-Lyne, is the only survivor of the victorious England team, and only four of the German team are alive today.

1966: off to celebrate England's World Cup Win

The victory was expected to herald the beginning of a new era in international football, dominated by England. Unfortunately it has not turned out that way and England's 1966 triumph has now been followed by 15 subsequent World Cups, and England has not won another. Optimism that "football is coming home" at the start of each campaign has been followed by disapointment. They reached the semi-final in 1990 and 2018 and then this month hopes were that their third semi-final would surely end their disappointing run.

But the long wait continues,  as on the 15th of the month they met their old adversary, reigning champions Argentina and lost 2-1. There is not much love lost between the two footballing nations. Their first major World Cup meeting came at Wembley in 1966. England won 1-0 in a famously hostile match. Argentina captain Antonio Rattín (who died this month) was sent off, but refused to leave the pitch immediately, creating a major controversy. England manager Alf Ramsey later claimed that the Argentinians had behaved like "animals", a comment that deepened resentment and helped establish a fierce rivalry.

Argentina won the World Cup in 1986, the quarter-final being the most famous England-Argentina game, where Diego Maradona scored the infamous "Hand of God" goal and minutes later scored the "Goal of the Century", dribbling past several England players, to beat England 2-1.

So the usual disappointing end but congratulations to Spain, who dominated a scrappy final, beating a cynical Argentina 1-0, a scoreline which did not do justice to Spain's dominance. It was a poor game, which was a shame as this was a wonderful tournament with some great sporting moments.

No more so than England's scintillating encounter with France in the "runners- up" match in Miami. England endured extreme heat and humidity in Miami for their quarter final match against Norway, and they were back to the oppressive Florida conditions three days after the semi-final when they beat France 6-4 in a remarkable match, after being 4-0 up at half time. Winning the bronze medal made this England's best World Cup performance since 1966.

And talking of heat, Europe and the UK experienced the third heatwave of the year and the longest so far, at around 3 weeks in many places, with wildfires devastating many parts of Europe and the UK, leading to mass evacuations in France and Spain. Luckily, Falmouth's coastal location means temperatures are moderated by the sea, so while inland Cornwall has reached 29-30°C, Falmouth has more often been in the 22-27°C range, and the water, as always, has been the place to be.

Cooling off at a busy Falmouth beach and the tranquility of the nearby Helford River

As well as another heatwave in the UK, hot news is of a new Prime Minister, Labour's Andy Burnham, who becomes the 7th PM in ten years. If he can survive until the latest date for the next general election he would be in office for 3 years and 26 days and would be the longest serving PM since Theresa May took office in 2016, holding the position for 3 years and 11 days. Time will tell!

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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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