Five years ago this month I wondered what would be the main issues facing the world and the mining industry in 2020. Predicting the future is an impossible task I said. How true, as 2 months later the world ground to a halt with the onslaught of the Covid pandemic and the cancellation of all major events, including four MEI conferences and the International Mineral Processing Congress in Cape Town.
So I am a little wary now of expressing too much optimism, but I do hope for a year which sees a resurgence in the fortunes of many common metals, whose prices fell in the third quarter of 2024 due to signs of slowing industrial activity in major economies, especially China.
We look forward to MEI's two major conferences which will be held in Cape Town this year, Comminution '25 and Flotation '25. But before these I will be in Denver next month, representing MEI as a media partner, for the Annual SME Meeting, which will be special this year as it includes the Komar Kawatra Symposium, and is in association with World Gold 2025, which should be well attended as gold is one of the few metals which has not suffered in 2024.
In March Comminution '25 will have a record number of presentations as well as exhibitors. Although the technical programme is now full we are still considering abstracts for poster presentation.
We will be back in Cape Town again in November for Flotation '25, where all the exhibition booths in the main exhibition area are already sold, but we have 7 booths available outside the main conference room. We expect a very full programme here too, so please submit your abstracts by the end of May if you would like to present your work.
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The farewell sundowner at Flotation '25 will be a special evening for me, as I hope to celebrate the end of my eighth decade with flotation scientists from around the world, 10 days before my 80th birthday.
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| A recent sundowner at the Vineyard Hotel |
And thanks to a recent paper in Elsevier's Food Chemistry journal I will be able to relax in the knowledge that I will be celebrating with antioxidant alcohol!! As is well known, one of the reasons that alcohol consumption can contribute to disease is that its metabolism by the liver results in the production of highly reactive oxygen species. Such free radicals can react with and damage cellular components such as fats, proteins and DNA, affecting vital functions of cell membranes and blood vessel walls.
Antioxidants, which neutralise highly reactive free radicals. have been found to be present in several alcoholic drinks. Researchers at the University of Silesia, Poland, tested alcoholic beverages for antioxidant activity by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) using an EMX EPR spectrometer manufactured by Bruker, a regular sponsor of MEI's process mineralogy conferences. EPR is a technique that specifically detects species containing unpaired electrons, such as free radicals. The results clearly showed that some alcoholic beverages exhibit antioxidant properties. Red wines and brandy demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity, followed by whisky.
So here's to a few glasses of pinotage with friends on November 20th, but in the meantime, with wine glass half full, I wish you all the very best for 2025.
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| Should we frown on those who enjoy an occasional glass of wine? |
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