Will the production of critical minerals be sufficient to satisfy the green revolution?

The programme for the final day of next month's Sustainable Minerals '22 is devoted to critical minerals, those that  are essential to the green revolution, but whose future supply cannot be guaranteed due to scarcity and geopolitical factors (see posting of 23rd May). The day will end with a 2 hour panel discussion "Will the production of critical minerals be sufficient to satisfy the green revolution". The image below from the European Chemical Society, shows very clearly the elements in the Periodic Table which are most at risk.

The session will be chaired by Jeff Townsend, an experienced public affairs and campaign strategist working at the highest levels in business and politics. He is founder of the Critical Minerals Association (CMA), which provides a unique platform for companies and individuals to come together and share key insights with the UK Government. The CMA is an industry associate to MEI Conferences.

The four panelists bring a wealth of diverse experience in critical minerals and mineral processing.  Dr. Anita Parbhakar-Fox is an Associate Professor at the Sustainable Minerals Institute of the University of Queensland. She has been an assistant editor of Minerals Engineering and is currently leader of the mine waste transformation through characterisation group at the SMI.

Prof. Markus Reuter has been a long time consultant to MEI's sustainability conferences. He is Chief Expert and  Professor at the SMS group GmbH, Germany, Adjunct Professor on Recycling at Curtin University, Australia and Honorary Professor at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, where he was a Director for almost five years.

Lucy Crane is the ESG and sustainability manager at Cornish Lithium Ltd in Cornwall and is head of the Women in Mining (UK) Membership and Professional Development Committee. She is a geologist, with an MSc in Mining Geology from Camborne School of Mines and a Master’s degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford. Part of her role at Cornish Lithium is to foster collaboration with other industry and academic partners to accelerate the exploration programme and test new concepts. Lucy has a keen interest in furthering the interests of young mining professionals and in promoting the mining industry to students.

Yousef Ghorbani is an associate professor at the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, involved in sustainable access to high-tech and energy-critical materials in transition to the green economy. He has been a regular contributor to MEI Conferences, in Biohydrometallurgy, Process Mineralogy, Comminution and Flotation, so has a very wide experience of the minerals industry.

It is likely to be a very lively and useful panel discussion. Registration for the conference is open, and the full programme is available for viewing. And it is not too late to submit an abstract if you could like to present your work.

Finally thanks to our sponsors for their support:

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