Final Calls for Abstracts: Process Mineralogy '18 and Hi-Tech Metals '18

It is only two weeks since Comminution '18 finished at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town, and now we look forward to our next two events at that beautiful venue, Process Mineralogy '18 and Developments in the Processing of the "Hi-Tech" Metals (Hi-Tech Metals 18).

The Vineyard Hotel Conference Centre

There are now final calls for abstracts for these two back-to-back conferences, which should be submitted by the end of this month (details can be found on the conference websites).

Process Mineralogy '18 is the 5th in this series of International Symposia, and is currently sponsored by Zeiss, Bruker, Thermo Fisher Scientific and iMin Solutions, with International Mining as a media sponsor.

Developing from MEI’s previous conferences on Process Mineralogy, Applied Mineralogy and Automated Mineralogy, Process Mineralogy ’18 will deal with the following topics:

•Quantitative mineralogy, including both X-ray and Electron Beam Techniques
•Geometallurgy
•Ore characterisation
•Mineral Liberation and Textural Analysis
•Application of process mineralogy on site
•Sampling and Statistics
•Advanced Process Control

Two distinguished speakers will give keynote lectures at the conference. Prof. Alan Butcher, of the Geological Survey of Finland, will present When scientists and engineers talk – lessons from the oil industry and applications to mining. Prof. Frances Wall, of Camborne School of Mines, will present Common problems - and progress towards solutions - in the process mineralogy of rare earths.

A full report on the previous event, Process Mineralogy '17, can be found on the posting of 29th March 2017, and this 7 minute video, taken at Process Mineralogy '14, captures the flavour of the Vineyard experience.

Process Mineralogy '17

The conference dinner will be held at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

There is currently a great deal of interest in the "Hi-Tech" metals, particularly with the coming of the electric car revolution, and Hi-Tech Metals '18, will be MEI's first international conference in this area, and has the initial support of Glencore Technology.

Less than half a century ago the rare earth elements were classed as minor metals.  Lithium was essentially a curiosity, the third element in the Periodic Table, and the lightest metal. Now, of course it is in high demand for light, powerful batteries, and the increasing prevalence of electric cars will increase the demand for this once minor metal, as well as for cobalt and nickel. The rare earths and lithium are primary mined, but some of the once minor metals, such as gallium, germanium and indium, which are essential for our modern way of life, are by-products of base metal mining.

The importance of all these metals cannot be overestimated and the two-day conference will deal with the mineral processing and extractive metallurgy of these metals from primary and secondary resources, and the environmental problems that are often associated with their extraction.

The keynote lecture High technology metals: facts, fiction and recycling will be given by Prof. Jens Gutzmer of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Germany.

Draft papers from each conference will be available on Proceedings USBs and after the events authors will be invited to submit final papers for peer-review, with a view to publication in Minerals Engineering as Virtual Special Issues.

Latest updates at #ProcessMineralogy18 and #HiTechMetals18