Looking to the future : Physical Separation in 2030

Next month's Physical Separation '22, the 7th in the MEI series, and the first to be totally online, has a fine programme, covering gravity and magnetic separation, sorting and microwaves, classification and solid-liquid separation, and a highlight on the final session of day 3, a live panel discussion on the future of physical separation.

The scheduled 2-hour session will be chaired by Dr. Erin Bobicki of the University of Toronto, Canada, who will also be co-authoring work on the application of microwave imaging in sensor-based ore sorting on day 2 of the conference. Sensor-based sorting is rapidly developing into a major method of pre-concentration and representing conference sponsor Steinert on the panel will be Dr. Priscila Esteves, of Steinert Latinoamericana, Brazil. Priscila will also be presenting a paper on the development of a sensor-based sorting application for iron ore concentration, as well as co-authoring a presentation on sensor-based sorting technology to separate chromite lump from low grade rocks.

Prof. Neil Rowson, Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham and Laboratory Manager at Bunting-Redditch, UK, will be giving a keynote lecture at the conference on the role of magnetic separation in the development of critical and strategic metal recovery flowsheets, and will be the magnetic separation specialist on the panel.

Prof. Kevin Galvin, Laureate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia, is also a keynote speaker at the conference, his lecture being on new challenges for gravity concentration and classification of fine particles. Kevin is the inventor of the Reflux Classifier used in gravity separation of fine particles. With over 180 installations around the world, the technology has been used to beneficiate coal, iron ore, mineral sands, potash, chromite, and other base metal oxides. New innovative systems are emerging including the Graviton and the Reflux Flotation Cell through collaboration with FLSmidth. He has also been developing a novel agglomeration technology with Jord International. Among his many honours he has been the recipient of the SME's prestigious Antoine Gaudin Award.

Dr. Peter Amelunxen, of conference sponsor Hudbay Minerals, Canada, is an all-round mineral processor who chaired the panel discussion at last year's Flotation '21. He was the first recipient of MEI's Young Person's Award in 2011 and it is good to have him with us again on the panel.

There is no doubt that interesting things will come out of this panel discussion, as the panelists answer questions put to them by the delegates. The live presentation will also be recorded and available on demand after the conference.

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