A New Paradigm for Mineral Processing Circuits: What might Underpin the Philosophy?

When I began my career in mineral processing in the 1970s mineral processing circuits had changed little since the 1930s but there was a paradigm shift in the early 1980s, the computer revolution leading to the development of innovative flotation and comminution machines, the evolution of automatic control strategies and improvements in design and optimisation via the new field of mathematical modelling.

Prof. Kevin Galvin is the inventor of two of the recent innovative systems, the Reflux Classifier used in gravity separation and the Reflux Flotation Cell and we are honoured to have him as a keynote speaker at next year's Mineral Processing Circuits '26 in Cape Town. Kevin is a Laureate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and previous recipient of numerous awards including the Ian Wark Medal, ATSE Clunies Ross Award, and Antoine Gaudin Award in mineral processing. He is Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals.

His presentation will be something to look forward to, as he will argue that mineral processing is entering a paradigm shift, implying that there is a current paradigm, and that something new will ultimately emerge - the alternative might be a continuation of incremental improvements for the next 100 years!

He will confine his discussion to mineral beneficiation, arguing that if beneficiation had a purely technical objective we could ignore the need for a new paradigm, just use what is on the shelf, apply the templates of the past and keep going. We could continue to produce metals. But the industry needs to be sustainable, economically, environmentally and socially. It is that thread which will underpin his keynote, the exercise being one of producing and sorting the particles to deliver a sustainable outcome, guided by the mineral grade and recovery. 

He will identify the existing paradigm, an approach forged on the back of 20th century technology and will look to understand why it persists. But in moving forward we need to consider the possibilities that arise from the emergence of new technologies, and what that might look like. Up until now we have tended to consider new technologies and how they fit within the old paradigm, but the real innovation emerges when we let go of the past. Complex, inefficient, large-scale plants should give way to simpler, efficient, smaller, more purposeful units or modules, that can be formally controlled to address variability and in turn facilitate more complex forms of decision making.

The keynote will provide a great introduction to the conference, as with the demand for resources continuing 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.

Mineral Processing Circuits '26 invites papers on new approaches to mineral processing circuits, whether through design, modelling, optimisation or operation. This includes integration of unit operations (e.g. comminution and flotation), novel flowsheets that incorporate new equipment and new approaches to optimising circuit design.

Abstract submission is now open, and short abstracts should be submitted by the end of October.

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