IMPC Lifetime Achievement Award to Robin Batterham

At last night's International Mineral Processing Congress  Awards Banquet in Maryland, USA, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Mineral Processing Council was bestowed to Prof. Robin Batterham, Emeritus Kernot Professor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Robin with Congress Chairman John Marsden, IMPC President Ralph Holmes
and past president Cyril O'Connor

Robin Batterham is President of the International Mineral Processing Congress to be held in Melbourne in 2028, and he chaired the Asia-Pacific Regional IMPC Conference in Melbourne in 2022 and the IMPC Congress held in Brisbane in 2010.

His interests span mining, mineral processing, metal production and energy systems as well as farming.  In all of these he focuses on what can be improved or made better in terms of people, the planet and prosperity, the classic aims of sustainability, and MEI was proud to have him as a keynote lecturer at Sustainable Minerals '16 in Falmouth, presenting "The mine of the future - even more sustainable".

Robin relaxing at Falmouth's Chain Locker during Sustainable Minerals '16

Prof. Robin Batterham was born in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton and graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1965 with a degree in chemical engineering.  He was awarded a PhD from the same institution in 1969 and received a scholarship from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to undertake postgraduate studies at the Central Research Laboratories of ICI in the UK.  

Robin returned to Australia in 1970 and progressed to the position of Chief Research Scientist in the CSIRO Division of Mineral Engineering, where he was later appointed as Chief of the then Division of Mineral and Process Engineering.  He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 1988, and he served as its national President in 2007 to 2012.  Subsequently in 2014, ATSE established the Batterham Medal in his honour as an early career award in the field of engineering.

In 1999, Robin was appointed Chief Scientist of Australia, a role which he undertook simultaneously to acting as Chief Technologist for the multinational mining company Rio Tinto.  He served as Chief Scientist with distinction, advising the Australian Government on scientific matters.  In May 2005, he stepped down as Chief Scientist of Australia and took on a full-time position at Rio Tinto, including a period as Global Head of Innovation.  Many of the company’s industrial technology successes are a result of his work.

From May 2004 to May 2005, Robin was President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2004 for the modelling of iron ore systems and team leadership in the development of innovative industrial metallurgical processes. He was appointed an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2004. In addition he is a Fellow by election to Academies in Australia (2), England, USA, Switzerland, China and India.  He is also a member of the very prestigious Order of Australia.

Robin has also received a number of prestigious awards, including the Kernot Medal from Melbourne University, the President’s Medal of the Australian Sugar Cane Technologists, the Chemeca Medal, the Esso Award for Chemical Engineering, the AusIMM Institute Medal in 2004, the AusIMM President’s Medal, the Centenary Medal of Australia, and the AusIMM Sir William Connolly Memorial Medal. 

After a period as an honorary staff member and a Professorial Fellow, Robin joined the Melbourne School of Engineering as Kernot Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2010.  He is devoted to furthering energy research in the University and is deeply involved with the Melbourne Energy Institute.  He brings considerable expertise and experience to the School, building on his long and very distinguished career in industry and government.  Robin chairs the Net Zero Australia project, is Chief Technologist of a major project on green steel and leads an initiative on soil carbon measurement. Recently he has been the co-inventor of seven patent applications, with one patent recently granted in the USA.  Robin’s other interests are centred on innovation in energy systems, including options for future generation and distribution, transport options, energy reduction in comminution and dewatering of low-grade materials, together with breakthrough work on low emission aluminium production. 

Robin Batterham's stellar career makes him a very worthy winner of the IMPC's most prestigious award and MEI congratulates him on behalf of the whole mineral processing community.