In brief

Saturday in Cape Town

Barbara and I arrived in a hot and sunny Cape Town yesterday morning, and the Vineyard Hotel's gardens have never looked lovelier.

Jon arrived today and Amanda is due in tomorrow from Windhoek after her family holiday in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Amanda hard at work in Namibia

A few early birds are already here and I had a beer on the terrace with Simon Bailey of Grinding Solutions Ltd, UK, and his wife Tiffany, who are our near neighbours in Falmouth. This is Tiffany's first visit to South Africa and she says that she is "just blown away" by the Vineyard and its setting!

Later on, in the evening, we were joined by another Cornwall-based delegate, Andy Wilkinson, from Metso UK.

A controversial ranking list

The QS World Ranking of Minerals and Mining Universities list is attracting a lot of debate. The head of operations at QSIU has responded to the many criticisms of the list, and I wonder what your reactions are to this response.

Is the end in sight for tumbling mills?

Last Monday's posting has also created some debate, particularly on the future of tumbling mills and their possible replacement by HPGRs and stirred mills, all topics which will be discussed in a few days at Comminution '16.

Twitter @barrywills