Hoping all goes well for the SAIMM Copper-Cobalt Conference in Zambia

Barbara and I are now back home in Cornwall after our ill-fated trip to Africa, and seven hours at Johannesburg airport before taking the evening flight back to London (yesterday’s posting). 

We should now be in Zambia, for what would have been my 10th visit to the spectacular Victoria Falls, and for the 3rd SAIMM Copper Cobalt conference to be held at the Avani Victoria Falls Resort near Livingstone. The conference is in association with the long-running Southern African Base Metals Conference. MEI is proud to be a media partner and I intended to report daily, on the social events and people which make this event so special, as I did for the first conference here in 2015 (posting of  13 July 2015).

The African Copper Belt has experienced a period of some difficulty since the last conference, which was attended by MEI's Amanda in 2018. Owing to the global slowdown in commodity demand during the early stages of the pandemic, many operations scaled down production or were placed on care and maintenance. For those continuing in business, this resulted in considerable focus on process and operating cost optimisation, productivity improvements, product quality enhancements, skills development and capacity building, and consolidation of best practice within the industry. 

The burgeoning global lithium-ion battery market has, however, opened up numerous opportunities in the region for expanded cobalt production and interest in producing high-purity base-metal salts for cathode material applications, as well as consideration of recycling efforts for end-of-life products. So this conference provides a platform for discussion of new and more agile ways of operating and remaining relevant and innovative in a world that has changed considerably since the global COVID-19 pandemic.

For international participants, this conference offers an ideal opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of and exposure to the African copper–cobalt industry, as well as other base-metal operations and projects in the region, and to better understand the various facets of minerals processing and extraction in this part of the world. 

There are around 250 delegates at the conference and I was really looking forward to last night’s welcoming reception on the bank of the Zambezi and I thank Romke Kuyvenhoven, of Metcelerate, Chile, for the photos below.

Romke Kuyvenhoven with conference chair Kathy Sole

I was particularly looking forward to catching up with Frank Crundwell, who I first met 26 years ago at Complex Ores '96 in Bulawayo, after which we did some hiking together in the nearby Matopos Hills. I was hoping to personally congratulate Frank, founder of CM Solutions Metallurgical Laboratories, South Africa, on his recent election as an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

The NAE is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious professional organisations for scientists and engineers worldwide. This honour is a testament to Frank’s significant contributions and achievements in the field of elucidating fundamental mechanisms of mineral dissolution to optimise metal extraction. Since our first meeting Frank has become a world authority on dissolution and leaching for which he was awarded the Wadsworth Award of the SME in 2021.  

On behalf of MEI I hope the conference runs smoothly. I am sure that it will.

@barrywills