SAIMM Rare Earths Conference 2024

By Amanda Wills

I had the pleasure of attending the SAIMM Rare Earths 2nd International Conference 2024 in Swakopmund, Namibia on June 19-20.

The event began with the Welcome Cocktail & Early Registration on Tuesday 18th June, at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre, where the conference was held.

I spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting with old friends and new whilst enjoying a glass or two of wine and some food.

Hannelie de Beer (Qotho Minerals), Colwyn van der Linde (TCM Research), and James Vaughan (University of Queensland)

Tawona Murasiki (Rossing Uranium Mine), Hector Mapheto (Erudite Projects), Eugene Mkhize (SENET), and friends

The next morning began with conference chairman Rasoul Hassanalizadeh welcoming us all to the event. Unfortunately, Rasoul could not make it to the conference in person, but it was no problem to link up with him remotely.

We then had a presentation from the current SAIMM President, William Joughin, giving us the history of the SAIMM, as well as it's current objectives and a breakdown of it's membership.

William Joughin (SRK Consulting) and Kathy Sole (Consultant)

Following on from William, we began Session 1: Exploration, geology, and mining of selected REE ore deposits. The Keynote Address was an online presentation by Okay Çimen, associate professor and a senior geologist at Munzur University, Turkey. Dr Çimen presented, "Rare earth element deposits and occurrences in Turkey: Opportunities and limitations for international investors".

This was followed by two more papers before the morning coffee break: "An assessment of rare earth elements in borehole cores from the Ermelo, Witbank and Waterberg Coalfields, South Africa: Focus on the mode of occurrence", presented by Duduzile Modiba from the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Johannesburg, and "Rare earth market intelligence: Magnets defining the outlook" presented by Katlego Matlou of Project Blue.

Helmut Mischo (TU Bergakademie Freiberg), Lucia Radovanovic (Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Berlin), and Rainer Ellmies (Gecko Exploration)

After coffee, the presentations continued with Louis Schaarschmidt of TU Bergakademie Freiberg presenting "Challenges and opportunities for rare earth element mining in underground mines" and Rhulani Hlungwane of the University of Johannesburg presenting "Stratigraphic distribution of rare earth elements within the Soutpansberg coalfield, Tshipise sub-basin, South Africa"

They were followed by another Keynote Address, this time from Petrus van Staden, a self-employed Hydrometallurgist who was sponsored by Wood to attend the conference. Petrus presented "How well does the great demand for REEs translate into great business opportunities for producers?

Petrus van Staden (Hydrometallurgist) and Hans de Waal (Glencore Technology)

Next up was an online presentation, "Enrichment of rare earth elements in No. 6 coal seam from the Limpopo Coalfield, South Africa", by Sanki Biswas of the University of Johannesburg, followed by "Overview of the Eisenberg Project in Namibia" presented by Kabwika Bisaka of Broadmind Mining (see photo below).

 

Kabwika Bisaka of Broadmind Mining

Kabwika was followed by  "Bonya exploration Twyfelskupje world class rare earths projects in South Namibia" presented by Katwali Nambala of Shali Group Holdings.

After this packed morning, we broke for lunch, where I again had an opportunity to network.

Jaco du Toit (MET63) and Olga Bazhko (Mintek)

Simphiwe Ndhlazi (Alfred H. Knight), Sidney Martin (Broadmind Mining), and Moses Pius (Alfred H. Knight)

Nontle Mniki (Council for Geoscience), Duduzile Modiba (University of the Witwatersrand), and Agnes Modiga (Mintek)

After lunch we went into Session 2: Processing and refining. The Keynote Address "REEs processing" was given by Deependra Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of IREL (India) Limited.

Then we had 3 presentations before the afternoon coffee break. First up were two presentations from Olga Bazhko of Mintek and Johanna van Deventer of Purolite: "Application of ion exchange technology for the upgrading and purification of rare earth elements" and "Recovery of rare earth elements from low concentration acidic streams using ion exchange resins".

They were followed by an online presentation given by Taswald Moodley of Mintek: "Laboratory scale concentration of low-grade monazite beach sand – a pH dependency study".

Sean Scott (MET63), Johanna van Deventer (Purolite), and Randall Crisp (Carl Zeiss)

After the coffee break, we had "Model development for the ultrasound assisted alkali-acid leaching of rare earth elements from high ash coal from the Waterberg coalfield" presented by Agnes Modiga of Mintek and "Flowsheet development of two distinct rare earth minerals bearing heavy mineral sand ores" presented by Etienne Raffaillac of Mineral Technologies.

There was then an icebreaker quiz, which I confess I didn't attend as I needed to get back to my hotel and change into some warmer clothes, ready for the Conference Dinner at the Tiger Reef Beach Bar and Grill.

Waiting for the coach to the conference dinner, I met Fisokuhle Masondo (CM Solutions), Roux Wildenboer (Rainbow Rare Earths), and Given Khosa (CM Solutions)

Sidney Martin, Executive Chairman of Broadmind Mining, who sponsored the Conference Dinner

Winners of the ice breaker quiz being presented with their prize by Jolene Saaiman of Mineral Technologies (left)

A selection of photos from the Conference Dinner at the Tiger Reef Beach Bar and Grill, including
entertainment from fire dancers

The second day of the conference began with an address from Veston Malango, CEO of the Chamber of Mines in Namibia, who gave us an overview of the mining industry within the country at the present moment.

Veston Malango, CEO of the Chamber of Mines in Namibia

Session 3: Recovery from secondary resources then began with a Keynote Address from James Vaughan of the University of Queensland, "Mary Kathleen tailings derived rare earth concentrates via double salt precipitation and caustic conversion".

James was followed by three more presentations before the morning coffee break: Rethabile Maphoso from the University of the Witwatersrand with "Critical Raw Materials: Characterisation and froth flotation as a preconcentration technique of weathered and non-weathered coals discards from Mpumalanga", Nontle Mniki from the University of Johannesburg with "Geochemistry and mineralogy with a focus on rare earth elements from coal discards occurring in the Ermelo Coalfield, and Roux Wildenboer of Rainbow Rare Earths with "Extraction of rare earth elements from Phalaborwa phosphogypsum".

Left: Olga Bazhko (Mintek) and Roelf Sandenbergh (University of Pretoria)
Right: Kemane Kgwete (Minersa)

Session 3 continued after coffee with an online presentation from Mark Williams-Wynn of EWaste Africa, "Development of a modular LPX Plant for efficient extraction and environmental remediation of mercury-contaminated luninophosphor powders" and Rampfumedzi Tshilidzi of Mintek with, "Characterisation, quantification and recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) in South African coal fly ash samples".

We then launched into Session4: Processing and refining/beneficiation with three more papers before we broke for lunch.

Sean Momberg of ProProcess Engineering began the session with "Strategic considerations in the construction of a rare earth facility in Angola: A comparative analysis of modular ex-works construction and traditional stick-build approaches", followed by Chiara Carrozza of Italmatch Chemicals with "Rare earth extraction with IONQUEST 801 initial modelling development", and Tebogo Mokgomola of Mintek presenting "Development of a physical separation preconcentration process for the extraction of rare earth bearing ore".

Kagiso Seleke (AECI), Filip Dutoy (Italmatch Chemicals), and Chiara Carrozza (Italmatch Chemicals)

After lunch, we had two more presentations before the conference finished. The scheduled paper from the University of Cape Town was not able to take place, and instead Sanjey Bhoowanpursadh of DMT Group presented "Financial challenges in the African critical minerals revolution". 

The conference closed with another paper from Mintek, presented by Buhle Xakalashe and entitled "Rare earth elements research conducted at Mintek".

I would like to thank the organisers of this event, the SAIMM, for allowing me to attend and for a very enjoyable couple of days. A special mention must also be made to Selo Ndlovu from the University of the Witwatersrand who stepped in at the last minute to perform the duties of the Conference Chair.

MEI are organising Critical Minerals '24 in Cape Town from November 14-15, 2024 and I hope to see you there!