November summary: South Africa etc

November 6th was the Feast Day of St. Leonard, the patron saint of convicts. Appropriately on that day, convicted felon Donald Trump became the first president in USA history to lose a re-election bid and then come back to win a second term. He has now written himself into posterity as a significant historical figure, for good or ill. What is guaranteed is that the next four years will be one hell of a roller-coaster ride!

The Times, November 7th

A day after the election result we were off to South Africa for Process Mineralogy '24 and Critical Minerals '24 in Cape Town, two successful events blessed by beautiful weather in the ever beautiful Vineyard Hotel.

Brazilian delegate Camila Senna showing her matching hair colour
by the Vineyards's magnificent bougainvillea

It is always a pleasure to meet new people and to catch up with old friends, no more so than our old friend Prof. Richard Williams, who I first met in 1986 in Falmouth at the first conference that I organised, a NATO Advanced Study Institute Mineral Processing at a Crossroads. Richard was then a research associate at Imperial College, just after being awarded his PhD. I have followed his meteoric career progression since then. He is now Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and has the coveted award of OBE for his services. 

It was great to catch up with Richard at Critical Minerals '24, where he gave an excellent presentation, and during the farewell drinks he hosted a reception for 42 of some of the 3,900 Heriot-Watt alumni resident in South Africa. Around 40% of the current 27,000 students learn from work and home on MBAs from the University's Business School, 

With Richard Williams at Groot Constantia wine estate

Following the conferences, Barbara and I, Amanda and Jon went our separate ways. Barbara and I had a week in KwaZulu-Natal in the Drakenberg mountains (posting of 25th November), followed by a couple of nights at uMhlanga on the coast, while Amanda and her two rowing club friends spent a week in Cape Town. Jon returned home to Luxembourg in time for his weekly slot on ARA City Radio Luxembourg as a music pundit.

uMhlanga Rocks

Cape Town

Luxembourg

As we were in South Africa I missed the November Cornish Mining Sundowner, but I thank Carol Richards for the photo, showing a good mix of regulars and CSM students, including CSM Union President Dani Gallagher (2nd left)

I'm not sure if they were present, but if they were it would have been good to wish regulars Nick and Flee Wilshaw a very happy retirement. having sold their business GSL (formerly Grinding Solutions Ltd) to Alfred H. Knight, a totally independent, family-owned business spanning five generations. 

MEI has had a long association with GSL, sponsors of a number of MEI's comminution conferences and participants in many others. Nick graduated in mineral processing at Camborne School of Mines in 1980, and he and his wife Flee set up GSL in 2003, with Simon Bailey, now with Comminution '25 sponsor Global Met Tech, as laboratory manager. The company grew and grew, moved into new premises near Truro and developed into an innovative, consultative company specialising in mineral liberation and separation. This ambitious, family-owned business is similar to fifth-generation Alfred H. Knight and supports clients worldwide across the metalliferous, coal, industrial minerals, environmental and recycling sectors. 

We will miss Nick and Flee at MEI Conferences, but they are good friends and we will maintain regular contact.

                                 The MEI team relaxing with Nick and Flee in Cape Town in 2018

Many areas of Britain were devastated by Storm Bert last weekend and Barbara and I returned to UK on Monday morning to find that all trains from London Paddington to Cornwall had been cancelled due to flooding. We managed to eventually get to Cornwall via London Waterloo station, the journey time from London to Falmouth being roughly the same as that from Johannesburg to London! But at least our privations were minor compared with those suffered by many during Storm Bert.

Relaxing in Kwazulu-Natal's Drakensberg Mountains

After this month's Process Mineralogy '24 and Critical Minerals '24 conferences, Barbara and I took the morning flight to Durban, rented a car and drove to the Drakensberg Sun Resort in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal's Drakensberg mountains. The Drakensberg Mountains, meaning 'Dragon Mountains' in Afrikaans, are the highest mountains in South Africa, ranging up to 3,482 m (11,422 ft) in height on the border between Lesotho and Kwazulu-Natal. The Drakensberg is part of the Great Escarpment and separates the extensive high plateaus of the South African interior from the lower lands along the coast and is the main watershed of South Africa, the source of the Orange and Vaal Rivers to the west and the Tugela to the east.

The Drakensberg Sun Resort is situated within the beautiful Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park adjacent to the impressive Cathkin Peak and is a great place to relax and just enjoy the scenery and the many hiking trails. 

Cathkin Peak

Some of the snakes to look out for in the hotel grounds
Can you spot the common error in some of the descriptions?

KwaZulu-Natal is a beautiful province, but it also has much military history, formerly being the British colony of Natal and adjacent Zululand. The province saw some bloody battles in the Anglo-Boer War, and during the Anglo-Zulu war, but prior to these wars, the Boers, trekking from British oppression in the Cape, encountered Zulu armies when trying to head towards the coast. At Blood River a replica laager of 64 life-size bronze wagons stands on the site where on December 16th, 1838, a 464 man-strong Boer commando defeated a Zulu army of between 15,000 and 20,000. The Boers made a solemn vow to God that should they survive the battle, Afrikaners would hold the day sacred in perpetuity. 3000 Zulu, armed only with spears, were killed, and no Boers died, leading to the myth that the Afrikaners were God’s chosen people!

At Blood River in 2006

Forty years later the most humiliating defeat in British military history took place on January 22nd 1879, when virtually an entire force of 1700 men was obliterated at Isandlwana by Zulu warriors armed with spears. The battlefield remains unspoiled and unchanged, apart from the graves of those who died.

Approaching Isandlwana in 2006

Isandlwana

Inspired by their victory, 4000 Zulus, part of a reserve force, launched an attack on the mission station at Rorke’s Drift, across the Buffalo River in Natal. Of the contingent of 139 men at Rorke’s Drift, 35 were seriously ill. The battle raged through the night, until the Zulus retreated at dawn. Only 17 British soldiers died, and 11 VCs were awarded, more than any other battle in history.

Most people have heard of the battle of Rorke's Drift, due to the 1964 film, Zulu, one of the biggest box-office hits of all time in the UK, but Cy Endfield’s film was actually shot 90 miles south-west of Rorke’s Drift in the Royal Natal National Park, a one hour drive from the Drakensberg Sun, with many excellent hiking trails. It was chosen as the location as it had the far more mountainous and picturesque Drakensberg Amphitheatre as a backdrop, rather than the low hills at the real site of the battle.

Rorke's Drift

The movie was shot in the dry season to make use of the deep blue sky contrasting with  the red coats of the British soldiers, but November is the rainy season so when we visited the Royal Natal Park, the Amphitheater was covered in cloud, but the surrounding scenery was nothing less than magnificent.

The 1964 Zulu movie with the Amphitheatre backdrop

Crossing the Tugela River

Although our ancient knees would have precluded us from attempting it even on a clear day, there is a classic hike to the summit of the Amphitheatre from where the Tugela River cascades 948 metres, making the Tugela Falls the world's 2nd tallest waterfall after Angel Falls in Venezuela. However in 2016 a Czech scientific expedition took new measurements, making the falls 983 m and so the world's tallest! Angel Falls, however, is almost universally regarded as having the tallest single uninterrupted drop of any waterfall in the world (the total height of Tugela Falls, even though possibly the tallest on Earth, is divided into five smaller tiers, its tallest individual tier being 411 m.

It was a wonderful day out in the National Park, even if this was the only view that we had from the Tugela River looking towards the Amphitheatre!

If you would like to visit KwaZulu-Natal after an MEI Conference, please contact our conference agent, Rene Simpson (simpsontours@gmail.com), who will organise this for you.

See also Mountains and Battlefields in KwaZulu-Natal

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Announcing Mineral Processing Circuits '26

Mineral Processing Circuits '26 is actually the 2nd in the MEI series, the first, Mill Circuits '24, being held in Cape Town in June of this year. The title has been amended to clarify the scope of the conference, which is wider than just grinding mill circuits as many assumed.

As the demand for resources continues to increase, and amidst growing challenges of processing complex ores while minimising energy and environmental impact, we are entering an exciting time for innovation in mineral processing. Innovation in individual unit operations is complemented by innovative approaches to the entire mineral processing flowsheet, from rearrangement of an existing circuit to a new approach for a greenfield development.

This conference invites papers on new approaches to mineral processing circuits, whether through design, modelling, optimisation or operation. This included integration of unit operations (e.g. comminution and flotation), novel flowsheets that incorporate new equipment and new approaches to optimising circuit design, so if you are involved in any of these areas, then do consider submitting an abstract to the conference. Final papers, which are invited after the conference, will be considered for publication in a special issue of Minerals Engineering after peer-review.

Cape Town's Vineyard Hotel Conference Centre provides an ideal opportunity for exhibiting your products and services, and 5 booths are available for rental in the coffee and lunch break area. If you decide to exhibit you may also be interested in our sponsorship package, which will give you much exposure before and during the conference.

MEI Conferences have the reputation of being relaxed, informal events, the sundowners in the Vineyard gardens providing ideal networking opportunities at the end of the daily sessions.

The venue for the conference dinner will be announced later but we can guarantee that it will be a very informal event.

Mineral Processing Circuits '24 immediately precedes Physical Separation '26 and delegates attending both will receive discounted registration rates. Keep following the blog for regular updates!

#MineralProcessingCircuits26

Friday at Critical Minerals '24

The final day of this 2-day conference began with six presentations on hard rock lithium processing, followed by three on graphite, another major battery mineral. The afternoon session contained a further seven papers on a variety of critical minerals, all of which will be summarised in a few weeks time.

The long morning coffee and lunch breaks provided a further opportunity to talk to the four exhibitors. Sponsors Petrolab and AECI Mining were also involved with Process Mineralogy '24, and they were joined by Steinert, a sponsor for this conference, and Paterson & Cooke, exhibiting for the first time at an MEI Conference.

Poliana Ferreira (right) of MGLIT, Brazil with John Knouwds (Steinert, Namibia),
Lutke von Ketelhodt, Camila Senna and Jean Makola (Steinert, Germany)

Amanda Wills with Albert du Toit and Ron Rampersad of Paterson & Cooke, South Africa

Mintek delegates

All too soon the conference came to an end, and Amanda Wills thanked the sponsors, exhibitors, chairpersons, authors and the delegates who have made this such an enjoyable event. After inviting everyone to Critical Minerals '26, the venue as yet not decided, we said our goodbyes with final drinks in the Vineyard Gardens.

A full album of photos is available for viewing. Please feel free to download photos for your personal use, but for corporate use please acknowledge the source, MEI Conferences.

Welcome to MEI's first conference on the Processing of Critical Minerals

The growing demand for critical minerals is primarily driven by the energy transition and the rapid expansion of technologies such as smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels. As societies transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, the need for these minerals has intensified. However, the extraction and processing of many critical minerals often involve complex geological conditions, high environmental impact, and challenges in terms of supply chain reliability.

As the demand for critical minerals increases, so do concerns about their environmental and social impact. The extraction of these minerals often involves practices that can harm ecosystems and local communities. Efforts are being made to develop more sustainable mining techniques and recycling processes to mitigate these impacts.

One solution to the critical minerals challenge lies in efficient recycling practices. Many electronic devices and products contain significant amounts of these minerals, making them potential sources for future supply. Researchers and industries are working on improving recycling technologies to extract critical minerals from discarded products, reducing the need for new mining activities.

Over the next two days, Critical Minerals '24 will explore innovative methods and flowsheets for processing critical minerals from primary and secondary sources. 

Jon Wills opened the conference at Cape Town's Vineyard Hotel, welcoming the 64 delegates from 15 countries and thanking our sponsors Promet101, AECI Mining Chemicals, Capstone Copper, Steinert, and Petrolab, aided by our advisor Prof. Alan Butcher, who unfortunately could not be with us. Thanks also to our media partners, International Mining and Minerals Engineering and our industry advocates the Critical Minerals Association and the Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution (CEEC).

The conference then got underway with an excellent introductory keynote from Markus Reuter, of SMS Group, Germany, who explored the fundamental limits of the supply chain of critical metals and minerals within the circular economy.

Markus's keynote was followed by 10 morning presentations, broken by a long coffee break which gave everyone the chance to network within the small exhibition. A summary of the presentations, with links to the extended abstracts will be published in a couple of weeks.

Late arrivals

Following lunch was a second keynote, this from Damien Krebs, of Primero, Australia, who, after taking us through a series of warm-up exercises, discussed the extractive metallurgy of rare earths, which was followed by four further presentations on rare earths.

Damien guiding us through the post-lunch warm-up

After a great first day we took a short coach journey round the mountain to the beautiful Constantia Valley for dinner at the elegant Simon's Restaurant at Groot Constantia, South Africa's oldest wine estate.