October Cornish Mining Sundowner: a chance to thank Gravity Mining

 A good sundowner last night at Falmouth's Chain Locker, probably the last outdoors for several months.

Camborne School of Mines students

We are pleased that the Cornwall Mining and Georesources Alliance (CMGA) is bringing in new faces by promotion of the sundowners. The CMGA brings together world class expertise to support the global mining and geothermal industries, its members being active in the Green Metals transition and modern responsible mining worldwide. 

David Mildren is a CMGA Director, and is a Director of Cornish company Gravity Mining, manufacturer of the Multi Gravity Separators (MGS), which will play a big part in the future gravity circuit at the South Crofty tin mine. At the August sundowner I suggested to David that the company might sponsor next year's Physical Separation '26 in Cape Town, and we are delighted to announce that they have agreed, and will be promoting their range of MGS machines at the event, including their latest offering the huge C910 MGS (posting of October 13th). It was good to thank David and his brother and fellow Director, Treve, for their support next April.

With Dave and Treve Mildren

The next sundowner will be at the Chain Locker on Thursday November 20th, from 5.30pm.

Back to the Future: The Resurgence of Physical Separations

It’s remarkable to consider that in the mid-19th century, global annual copper production was only about 60,000 tonnes, compared with roughly 24 million tonnes today. In the early 19th century, Cornwall and Devon in the UK were the world’s leading copper producers. By 1850, however, Cornish mines were in decline. Although still significant by 1860, Chile had overtaken them as the dominant supplier, with the USA emerging as a major producer and eventually surpassing Chile by the late 19th century.

The ores from these early producers were exceptionally high grade, typically between 5-15% Cu. Any necessary upgrading could be achieved by simple hand sorting or by basic ore-dressing methods such as jigs, buddles, and round frames, techniques commonly employed in Cornish tin mining.

Remains of buddles at the Botallack mines, Cornwall

Chile’s copper boom (1840s-1870s) relied on rich oxide ores, malachite, azurite, and chrysocolla, and production peaked mid-century. By the 1880s and 1890s, however, many of these oxide deposits were exhausted. The remaining resources were low-grade sulfides (mainly chalcopyrite) hosted in large porphyry systems. With 19th-century technology, these were uneconomic: grades were often below 2% Cu, far too low for traditional methods. Consequently, Chile lost its leading position to the United States (notably Michigan and later Butte, Montana) by the late 1800s.

As global demand for copper surged, driven by the electrification of society, the invention of froth flotation around 1905 revolutionised low-grade sulfide mining. Finely disseminated chalcopyrite could now be concentrated to 20-30% Cu, making vast porphyry deposits commercially viable. This technological breakthrough resolved what had seemed an existential problem for the mining industry, allowing Chile to once again supply growing industrial and electrical demand for copper - a position it retains to this day.

From the early 20th century onward, flotation dominated mineral processing, relegating gravity separation to a minor role. It remained vital, however, for certain ores such as tin, and innovations like the Wilfley Shaking Table, still widely used, rendered older devices like Frue vanners obsolete. A resurgence came in the 1970s with the advent of high-capacity gravity separators such as Reichert Cones and spirals, and more importantly, enhanced gravity machines including the Knelson and Falcon concentrators.

Magnetic separation has been part of mineral processing since the late 19th century, but the 20th century brought major advances that transformed it from a niche technique into a standard tool for ore beneficiation. The development of stronger permanent magnet materials enabled compact, reliable drum separators without relying solely on electromagnets. Applications expanded beyond magnetite to paramagnetic iron ores such as hematite and limonite, thanks to finer grinding and high-intensity magnetic separation (HIMS). Further progress in the 1960s and 1970s saw the advent of wet high-intensity magnetic separation (WHIMS) for slimes and finely disseminated ores.

One of the most significant WHIMS developments was the Jones Separator, the first truly practical, high-capacity machine of its kind. 

The Jones Separator (a) Plan View  b (top view)

The concept originated with Dr. George Jones, head of engineering at the Camborne School of Mines, who in the late 1950s and early 1960s sought ways to apply strong magnetic fields to weakly magnetic minerals like hematite and wolframite. His innovative rotating carousel design became the foundation of the Jones Separator. Assisting him was a talented mining student, who worked on the prototype for his final-year project. His name was Richard Mozley.

Richard Mozley went on to become one of Cornwall’s most prolific inventors, pioneering hydrocyclones for ultrafine desliming and developing a range of commercial gravity separators. His most renowned invention was the Multi-Gravity Separator (MGS), designed to compete with other enhanced gravity machines such as the Knelson, Falcon, and Kelsey Jig.

Richard Mozley died in 1995, but he would surely have been astonished by the latest evolution of his creation: the C910 MGS, the world’s largest gravity concentrator. Designed specifically for bulk commodities such as iron ore and chromite, it enables the recovery of ultrafine minerals often lost to tailings.

Gravity Mining Directors Colin Colino, Treve Mildren and David Mildren
at the launch of the C910 MGS earlier this year

We will hear more about this remarkable device at Physical Separation ’26, to be held in Cape Town next April. Dr. Kristian Waters, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Mining and Materials Engineering at McGill University, Canada, will deliver a keynote lecture highlighting the renewed importance of physical separations. Enhanced gravity concentrators, along with emerging technologies such as the Reflux Classifier and the new MGS, are at the forefront of this revival. This trend aligns with the industry’s growing focus on responsible energy usage, particularly efforts to reduce comminution energy by rejecting barren particles before grinding, through ore sorting.

Kristian will illustrate how sensor-based ore sorting effectively revives the concept of the human sorter of a century ago, marking a true resurgence in the value of physical separations. It is fitting that this conference is supported by two global leaders in this field: TOMRA and Steinert.

If you would like to submit an abstract to Physical Separation '26, or to Mineral Processing '26 which follows it, the deadline for abstracts is October 31st.

#PhysicalSeparation26

Memories of Process Systems '05

Immediately following Computational Modelling '05 at Cape Town's Mount Nelson Hotel (Monday's posting) was a 2-day conference,  Process Systems in the Metallurgical Industries '05, organised by MEI in consultation with Chris Aldrich from the University of Stellenbosch, and sponsored by Limn: the Flowsheet Processor.

At the Cape Town Waterfront: Peter Hand, South African agent for Limn, Barry Wills of MEI,
Dave Wiseman of Limn, the sponsor of the event, and conference consultant Chris Aldrich

The conference was attended by 30 delegates and Chris Aldrich provided a brief report.  Selected papers from the conference can be found in Volume 19 Number 11 of Minerals Engineering, and a few photos taken at the event are shown below:

Memories of Computational Modelling '05

November is fast approaching and Flotation '25 is now only 6 weeks away. This will be the biggest conference in MEI's history, but 20 years ago in November we held three small conferences in Cape Town. They were held at the Mount Nelson Hotel, a couple of years before we discovered the Vineyard Hotel.

The first of the three events was Computational Modelling '05, the first of what was to become a series of seven conferences, initially suggested by Jan Cilliers, who at the time was a lecturer at the University of Manchester and is now Professor of Mineral Processing at Imperial College, London.  

We ran the conference in consultation with Jan, and it was sponsored by DEM Solutions.  There were 40 delegates, some of whom can be seen in the photos below.

With Jan Cilliers and John Favier of DEM Solutions

Selected papers from the conference can be found in Volume 19 Number 10 of Minerals Engineering.

AECI Mining Chemicals Strengthens Partnership with MEI Conferences

AECI Mining Chemicals, a division of AECI Ltd, is part of a diversified group of 16 companies and employs 400 people. In addition to South Africa, they are involved in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the DRC. The next target markets are in Ghana, Morocco and Tanzania as well as Australasia and South America. 

AECI Mining Chemicals adds value in the beneficiation of primarily PGMs, diamonds, coal, gold, uranium and base metal ores. Most of their products are used in the froth flotation and tailings treatment sectors of the mining industry. The portfolio includes specialty thiol-based collectors, mineral froth formation chemicals, unwanted gangue mineral depressants, polyacrylamide thickening polymers and tailings polymeric rheology modifiers. 

AECI Mining Chemicals has the largest mining chemicals manufacturing facility on a single site in the southern hemisphere and a state-of-the-art R&D centre where world-class specialists deliver innovative solutions not only for today’s mineral extraction challenges but also for mining of the future. 

The company has become a valued regular sponsor of MEI’s Flotation conferences, first joining us at the online Flotation ’21 event during the pandemic. This followed a long-standing relationship with Senmin, which now forms part of AECI’s Mining Solutions pillar.

With the return to in-person events at Flotation ’23, Shani Engelbrecht, Global Portfolio Manager, shared: "A big shout-out to MEI Conferences for creating such a stimulating environment! Flotation ’23 has been a truly enriching experience - I left with my mind challenged and heart full."

MEI's Jon Wills with the AECI team at Flotation '23

The impact was immediate: AECI Mining Chemicals signed on as a sponsor for Flotation ’25, Process Mineralogy ’24, and Critical Minerals ’24. We are now delighted to welcome them back once again as sponsors of Process Mineralogy ’26 and Critical Minerals ’26 in Cape Town.

#ProcessMineralogy26
#CriticalMinerals26

September summary: the Moselle and the Thames, and sad news from Australia

Barbara and I were back in Luxembourg early this month, our second visit this year to see Jon and family. Not unusually, our rail journey to Heathrow was disrupted (and the return journey was even worse), so it is always a real pleasure to travel in Luxembourg, where public transport is free for both locals and tourists and the trains run on time and are spotlessly clean.

Luxembourg is known as the "Land of Castles." Situated at the crossroads of Europe, between France, Germany and Belgium, it was, in the Middle Ages, a contested territory and a vital passageway for trade and armies. Building castles was essential for defence and control. The land was divided into many small lordships, and each noble family sought to protect its territory and assert its power by constructing fortified residences.

A good example of a feudal castle is that at Esch-sur-Sûre, first built in 927, making it one of the oldest in Luxembourg. The castle stands on a rocky promontory overlooking the village, above the River Sûre. The river itself flows from southeastern Belgium, through northern Luxembourg, and eventually joins the Moselle.

The castle at Esch-sur-Sûre, overlooking the village

During our brief stay, we also visited the Roman amphitheatre at Trier, Germany’s oldest city, just across the Luxembourg border on the Moselle. Trier was established as a Roman metropolis after their arrival in 17 BC. On our first visit (posting of March 1st, 2023), we explored the Porta Nigra, a 2nd-century city gate and the largest Roman gate north of the Alps.

The amphitheatre, built around 100 CE, could hold about 18,000 spectators for gladiatorial games, animal hunts, and public spectacles. It was interesting to explore the underground chambers and passages beneath the arena, where animals and gladiators once waited before their appearance.

Ten days ago, Amanda was in London for the Great River Race, a spectacular boat race covering 21.6 miles from Millwall in the East to Richmond in the West, passing under London’s famous bridges over the Thames. The event began in 1988 with 61 boats and now attracts around 300 crews. It has become an international competition, drawing participants from the United States, Australia, and many European countries. 

It was a very gruelling three hours, said Amanda, who competed with the "Helford Sea Sisters" in their beautiful traditional Cornish gig, Helford. As an all-women crew, they were eager to support a charity close to their hearts: First Light, a local organisation aiding victims of domestic abuse.

The Cornish flag attracted many cries of "Oggy Oggy Oggy" from spectators

A very choppy Thames, with Helford left foreground

Three years ago I was in Melbourne to give a guest lecture at the IMPC Asia-Pacific 2022 conference. After the lecture I relaxed in the bar with a few mineral processors from the audience. One of them was Ron Goodman, and I was sorry to hear that Ron died earlier this month. Ron was a renowned tin expert and helped commission the Wheal Jane tin concentrator in Cornwall in 1971.  Originally from Dudley in the UK, he spent most of his working life in Australia and at the time of his death was an independent mining and metallurgical consultant. Many regarded him as one of the great practical mineral processors. Our condolences to his daughters Hana and Gemma.

Melbourne 2022, with Ron Goodman (right), Graeme Jameson,
Lachlan Bartsch and Martin Rudolph

Finally, the big news this month has been the State Visit of the US President to the UK. Everyone has their own views on this! And, talking of USA, many congratulations to the European Ryder Cup golf team for their narrow away victory over America.  Despite the egregious abuse hurled at them by the partisan local crowd the Europeans led by a record 7 points after the first two days, and the final day should have been a formality. But the Americans fought back, the visitors just hanging on for a 15-13 victory.  

Huge congratulations also to the England Women's Rugby Team for their decisive victory over Canada in the final of the Women's Rugby World Cup. Two great sporting achievements to lighten the gloom of a month in which the wars in Gaza and Ukraine have escalated and Putin has tested the nerves of NATO countries.

Final calls for abstracts for Physical Separation '26 and Mineral Processing Circuits '26

If you would like to present papers at Physical Separation '26 and /or Mineral Processing Circuits '26 in Cape Town next April, then the deadline for submission of abstracts is the end of next month.

The 3-day Physical Separation '26 is the 9th in the series and is sponsored by Steinert, TOMRA and Mineral Technologies, with Media Partners International Mining and Minerals Engineering.

Abstracts should be submitted via the portal on the conference website.

The conference dinner will be held in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, very close to the conference venue. Acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world, few gardens can match the sheer grandeur of the setting of Kirstenbosch, against the eastern slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain. This breath-taking backdrop of nature boasts a MOYO restaurant with beautiful vistas, entertainment and cuisine composed of the best modern African produce.

Mineral Processing Circuits '26 is a 2-day event which immediately follows Physical Separation '26 at the Vineyard hotel. We are pleased that Prof. Kevin Galvin, of the University of Newcastle, Australia, will be presenting a keynote lecture "A new paradigm for mineral processing circuits - what might underpin the philosophy?"

There will be a conference dinner on the first night and the venue will shortly be added to the website. Abstracts should be submitted via the website portal.

Presenters at each conference will be invited to submit papers for peer-review in Minerals Engineering after the conference. Papers accepted for publication after refereeing will be published in the first available regular issue of Minerals Engineering, and included in the Virtual Special Issue of the conference on ScienceDirect. This is an ideal opportunity to present your work to an international audience and have your paper published in a refereed journal of high repute.

#PhysicalSeparation26
#MineralProcessingCircuits26

The rapid onset of AI makes copper ever more critical

Copper is arguably the world's most critical metal (posting of 27 May 2024; Is copper THE most critical metal? It always has been). Copper remains a cornerstone of global industrial development, critical for electrical wiring, electronics, infrastructure, and the green revolution's renewable energy systems and yet, despite its essential role, it has only recently been added to the USA's list of critical metals and minerals.

Global mined copper production currently stands at around 23 million tonnes per year, but every credible forecast warns that far more will be needed. The transition to renewable energy and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles are already stretching supply. Now, the accelerating "fifth industrial revolution", artificial intelligence, is adding an entirely new layer of demand.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been with us for a number of years now, but its use is increasing exponentially. When we converse with ChatGPT or Amazon's Alexa it is easy to imagine that we are conversing with a human and there have been recent reports of people forming deep emotional bonds with AI companions. But in reality we are conversing with something like this:

AI Data Centre
(Photo AdobeStock)

AI data centres are noted for being huge consumers of energy and water, but copper can account for nearly 6% of the capital expenditure of a data centre project. Its role is critical in electrical conductivity as it maximises efficiency in transmitting and distributing electricity and in thermal conductivity due to its support for high-performance heat exchangers, which are vital for cooling servers. Microsoft’s $500 million data centre in Chicago alone required 2,177 tonnes of copper during construction.

Analysts have predicted that copper demand from the sector will average around 400,000 tonnes annually over the next decade, peaking at 572,000 tonnes in 2028. The cumulative total in use by data centres could top 4.3 million tonnes by 2035. That comes on top of surging demand from other sectors, such as power transmission and wind energy, where copper usage is expected to almost double by 2035.

Existing copper mines are aging, facing declining ore grades and requiring costly reinvestment to maintain output. Over one-third to half of global supply may face these constraints over the next decade. Even with optimistic assumptions, there's a clear supply gap by 2035. Recycling, while helpful, won't fully bridge the gap. Increasing copper recycling is only part of the solution: recycled copper supply is projected to rise from about 33% today to 40% by 2035, and possibly 50% by 2050. But this still leaves a significant need for new mining.

In 2025 and beyond, copper ore processing innovation is indispensable, both to supply increasing demand and to ensure that production remains environmentally responsible. Around 80% of copper ore mined today is sulfide ore, almost all of these  ores being processed by flotation to make concentrates. The other 20% of copper ore is oxide ore, processed mainly by leaching/SX-EW.

Flotation is absolutely central to copper production, so even modest improvements here can have a huge impact on supply. Global average flotation recovery for copper sulfides is 80-90%. A 1% increase in recovery across the industry could add hundreds of thousands of tonnes of copper annually, equivalent to a new mid-sized mine. 

MEI’s Flotation ’25 is now just two months away, arriving at a pivotal time not only for copper but for the full spectrum of critical metals and minerals driving our resource-hungry world.

This year’s conference will spotlight the latest advances in reagent chemistry, bubble-particle interactions, hydrodynamics, circuit optimisation, and environmental performance, topics that are tightly aligned with today’s industry priorities. With more than 200 presentations from leading academics, industry pioneers, and cutting-edge technologists, Flotation ’25 is set to be a landmark gathering for the mineral processing community.

Delegates can expect bold new perspectives on sustainable flotation: bio-based reagents, greener chemistries, nanoparticle innovations, real-time monitoring tools, and machine-learning-driven control systems. Together, these advances are redefining what it means to maximise recovery while minimising environmental impact.

#Flotation '25 

A great turnout for the September Cornish Mining Sundowner

There was an attendance of over 30 for last night's mining sundowner at Falmouth's Chain Locker and it was good to see about a dozen students from Camborne School of Mines, some back from summer vacation and others just commencing their courses.

CSM students

I was pleased to welcome Ben Wraith, a Senior Process Engineer at Gekko Systems, Australia. Ben and his family are over from Australia primarily for a holiday and a wedding. As a mining family, and Ben having worked as a metallurgist in tin back in Australia, they decided to travel west to Cornwall to see the sights and learn more about the rich Cornish mining history, topping it off with the sundowner to chat about the past and hopefully the future mining activities in Cornwall.

It was also good to meet Ola Zawalna, the Strategic and Business Development Geo-Resources Manager for the Cornwall Mining & Geo-Resources Alliance, where she leads the Alliance’s growth strategy, develops partnerships, secures funding, and enhances Cornwall’s profile as a hub for mining, critical resources, and geothermal innovation.

With Ben and Ola

It was an excellent sundowner and I hope we get a similar turnout at the next one, on Thursday October 16th, from 5.30pm at the Chain Locker.

Advancing Process Understanding through Particle-Based Separation Modelling

Mineral beneficiation involves particle-specific processes, where performance is strongly influenced by the microstructural characteristics of individual particles. Ores currently being mined often exhibit high complexity, with fine-scale mineral intergrowths and diverse gangue associations that hinder separation. Within the field of process mineralogy, automated mineralogy has advanced the characterisation of such features, providing detailed particle-level data. However, these data are frequently summarised into bulk distributions (e.g., mineral composition, particle size, or liberation degree of the ore mineral) resulting in the loss of critical particulate information. Since particles are unique in size, shape, and mineral association, reliance on aggregated properties may oversimplify the relation between processing behaviour and ore microstructures, leading to incomplete or biased process interpretations.

In a keynote lecture at next year's Process Mineralogy '26, Lucas Pereira, of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Germany.  will highlight the use of data science techniques to exploit full-resolution particle datasets from automated mineralogy, namely particle-based separation models. The usefulness of this technology, both for forecasting and for understanding separation processes, will be illustrated by a series of case studies dealing with complex ores.

Lucas Pereira is Group Leader at Helmholtz Institute Freiberg. He develops particle-based separation models that transform high-resolution mineralogical data into practical solutions for industry. His research interests lie at the intersection of digitalisation, data analytics, and process modelling in the minerals sector and he is passionate about exploring the potential of machine learning and data-driven approaches to improve our understanding of complex systems and drive technological advancements.

#ProcessMineralogy26

Welcoming the World’s Largest Gold Mining Company to Flotation ’25

We are very pleased to announce that the world’s largest gold mining company, Newmont Corporation, will be joining us again as a sponsor of Flotation ’25.

Newmont has previously supported two of our online conferences during the Covid years, Biomining ’21 and Flotation ’21 and were sponsors of Flotation '23 in Cape Town.

Founded in 1921 and headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Newmont is not only the global leader in gold mining but also produces copper, silver, zinc, and lead. Following its acquisitions of Goldcorp in 2019 and Newcrest in 2023, Newmont has significantly expanded its global footprint, operating mines across North America, Latin America, Africa, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

Guided by its mission to create value and improve lives, Newmont is committed to safety, integrity, inclusion, sustainability, and responsibility and at Flotation '25 a joint paper from Newmont and the University of Queensland will highlight the potential of oxidised starch as a green, selective, and cost-effective pyrrhotite depressant in gold-copper flotation.

We look forward to welcoming Newmont’s representatives to Cape Town in just two months’ time.

#Flotation25

Could peptides lead to a new mineral processing paradigm?

Peptides are short chains of amino acids, the same building blocks that make up proteins. While proteins can be hundreds or thousands of amino acids long, peptides are usually between 2 and 50 amino acids in length. They have medical and therapeutic uses and can be used to fight bacteria, viruses, and fungi by disrupting their membranes, and certain peptides are being explored as targeted drug carriers or inhibitors of cancer growth.

But could peptides have the potential for a new paradigm in mineral processing? Traditional mineral processing relies heavily on physical separation methods and harsh chemicals which are effective but environmentally challenging. Peptides, because of their specificity, tunability, and mild operating conditions, could provide a biomolecular alternative or complement to these methods.

We first heard mention of peptides in mineral processing seven years ago at Biohydromet '18 in Namibia.  Robert Braun, of Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Germany, highlighted the potential of artificial peptides that are able to bind metal ions and combine unique sensitivity and high specificity.  He described the development of peptide-based biosorptive materials for heavy metal removal, including identification, adaptation and characterisation of specific peptides binding nickel and cobalt. The study provided a system that can be adapted to other materials and knowledge about the nature of metal-peptide interaction, which he predicted might lead to the discovery of novel metal-interacting biomolecules, e.g. enzymes and peptides.

At Sustainable Minerals '18 which followed, Robert's colleague, Sabine Matys, looked at the development of metal ion binding peptides using phage surface display technology, a powerful laboratory method used to study protein-protein, protein-peptide, and protein-DNA interactions.

At Flotation '21, Wonder Chimonyo, of The University of Queensland, examined the potential of new peptides as biocompatible alternatives to amine collectors in iron ore flotation and at Flotation '23 Mayeli Alvarez Silva, a researcher at Corem, Canada, presented the development of novel bio-collectors for sulphides, specifically chalcopyrite. Testwork on chalcopyrite and quartz proved the effectiveness of the peptide-base collectors comparable to xanthate. Mayeli concluded that the work opened interesting alternatives in the selection and development of peptide-type collectors (or depressants and other reagents) having great affinities towards different minerals.

Also at Flotation '23, Lam Ian Ku, of Australia's JKMRC presented a paper, co-authored by Chun-Xia Zhao, of the University of Adelaide, on the separation of arsenic minerals in flotation using a novel peptide collector, concluding that the findings will contribute to the ongoing effort of the mining industry to process complex ores efficiently, while minimising the environmental impact.

There are challenges, however, in the use of peptides. Synthesising peptides cheaply enough for bulk mineral processing is a barrier, though biotech advances are rapidly reducing peptide production costs. Many peptides degrade in harsh pH, temperature, or chemical conditions, so would need stabilisation strategies and replacing entrenched flotation reagents requires not just performance gains but also regulatory acceptance and operational compatibility.

However, peptide-based technologies could reduce reliance on toxic chemicals, enable selective, low-energy, water-based processing and allow recovery of critical minerals from low-grade ores and mine waste, opening new possibilities in the circular economy of metals.

A central core to this work is the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals (CoEMinerals), where researchers at the University of Adelaide are developing designer peptides and proteins tailored for specific mineral binding and flotation applications, mimicking cancer-targeting drug logic to "fit" specific mineral surfaces like a jigsaw puzzle

Led by Professor Chun-Xia Zhao and Dr. Guangze Yang, the team uses phage display technology to discover peptide sequences that bind selectively to target minerals. They characterise how these peptides perform under varying conditions such as pH, temperature, salinity, and sequence modifications.

Prof. Chun-Xia Zhao

This research demonstrates how biologically inspired molecular tools can offer highly selective, sustainable, and scalable alternatives to traditional mineral processing methods. The peptide-based platform holds potential for revolutionising how we extract critical minerals, especially from complex ores and tailings, while significantly reducing the environmental and economic costs.

Prof. Zhao's team has applied learnings from multiple scientific disciplines to mimic how a cancer-targeting drug finds cancer cells but in this case finding a one-in-a-billion peptide molecule targeting a given mineral or metal. This advancement has the potential to unlock the equivalent of a ‘DNA code’ for every mineral and metal on Earth and revolutionise mineral processing. It also heralds environmental benefits.

We are extremely pleased that Prof. Zhao will be presenting a keynote lecture on developments in this field at Critical Minerals '26 in Cape Town.

Prof. Zhao is a Leadership Fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Adelaide, and the Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence at the university. She has built extensive collaborations with scientists at top universities such as Harvard University, Brown University, etc. She serves as Editor and Editorial Board member for several journals.

Prof. Zhao will show how bioinspired molecules can selectively separate valuable metals and minerals, including precious metals and rare earth elements. This approach offers broad applicability, from primary mineral separation to urban mining applications such as recycling photovoltaic panels, magnets, and batteries. delivering significant environmental, economic, and operational benefits. She will demonstrate the transformative potential of biomolecule-based separation strategies to redefine the future of mineral processing and resource recovery.

#CriticalMinerals26

Meet a flotation legend, Graeme Jameson, at Flotation '25

Travelling from Newcastle, Australia to Cape Town is a very long haul but we are pleased that Prof. Graeme Jameson has decided to make the trip to Flotation '25 in November as he says that the conference "looks like it will be the best one ever". Graeme will be accompanied by his grandson Sam, as he was at Flotation '23. Sam is now a third year chemical engineering student at Newcastle University and has spent a gap year working with Graeme in his lab.

Flotation '25 is the 12th in the MEI series, and Graeme has missed only one, due to a family commitment. Flotation '25 will be a special one as all three of his inventions, the Jameson Cell, the Concorde Cell and the NovaCell will be profiled, and for the first time all three companies holding licenses for the cells, Glencore Technology, Metso and Jord International, will be present as sponsors. Immediately prior to the conference welcoming function Glencore Technology will be running a short workshop on the future of the Jameson Cell. Last month Glencore celebrated the installation of the 500th Jameson Cell worldwide, at the New Afton gold and copper mine in Canada.

Flotation '25 will be a great opportunity for young flotation scientists and engineers to meet a legendary figure in flotation technology. He is very approachable, having spent much of his career as a professor at the University of Newcastle, where mentoring students was central to his work. His former students speak highly of his willingness to listen and encourage fresh ideas and he has a track record of engaging with younger generations, not just with industry veterans. 

Prof. Jameson in discussion at Flotation '17

Another great reason to be at Flotation '25!

#Flotation25

August summary: autumn approaches after a long, hot summer

Ten years ago the then publishing manager for Minerals Engineering, Dean Eastbury, and I hiked the strenuous 7 and a half miles of coast between Mevagissey and Charlestown, one of the hardest sections of the south Cornwall coastal path (posting of 20 June 2015). 

We didn't spend much time in Charlestown, apart from downing a couple of well-earned pints at the Pier House Hotel, but at the beginning of this month Barbara and I visited the village and walked around the famous Georgian harbour, purpose built for shipping copper and importing coal, The port handled 40,000 tons of copper between 1810 and 1813 and later became a hub for exporting china clay until the 1990s.

Due to its modest scale, Charlestown escaped large-scale modernisation and retains much of its original Georgian character, Today it is one of the finest preserved 18th‑century harbours in the UK, making it a prime film location, appearing in productions including Poldark, Alice in Wonderland, The Onedin Line, Dr Who and The Eagle Has Landed.

After a brief look around we headed north on the coastal path for an uninspiring short walk to Carlyon Bay and an equally uninspiring lunch at the Carlyon Bay Hotel.

Meanwhile Jon and family were camping in France, at the base of the famous Alpe d'Huez, the most legendary and iconic climb in the Tour de France. The 13.8 km climb has an average gradient of 8.1% (a maximum of 10.8%), with 21 hairpin bends. Too much for Jon to resist, of course, so he rented a road bike and, having cycled up Alpe 'd'Huez 9 years ago, took the 50 km route from Bourg d'Oisans with the tougher climb up Col de Sarenne and down Alpe d’Huez, a spectacular and challenging loop that combines stunning Alpine scenery with a mix of remote, quiet roads and iconic Tour de France terrain. 

He almost gave up 2 km from the summit at 1,999 m. but the final stretch of the 22 km climb, which is exposed and scenic, gave dramatic views of the surrounding mountains and glacial valleys. This part of the route was used in the 2013 Tour de France, where riders climbed Alpe d’Huez twice with a descent over Col de Sarenne in between!

Back in Cornwall Amanda has, as always, been rowing with the Helford River Gig Club and on the 13th of the month they rowed out of the river into Falmouth Bay where Amanda took this great photo of the RAF's Red Arrows bursting from the clouds for their display over nearby Gyllyngvase beach, the highlight of Falmouth Week (posting of 14th August).

It's always good to welcome visitors to this beautiful part of the world and two days ago I met up with Natalie Dormer and family, who were visiting UK from Australia.  Natalie graduated in minerals engineering and extractive metallurgy from Curtin University in 1999 and has worked in the processing of iron ore, nickel and gold, as well as within many site metallurgical laboratories, and has managed a commercial metallurgical laboratory. For the past 3 years she has been a senior consultant with Lithium Consultants, Australia, after over 3 years as a metallurgist with Metso Outotec.

With Natalie, mining engineer husband Damon and children Brooke and Will

And a tranquil scene to end August. Amanda catching the sunrise in Falmouth Bay as autumn approaches and a long hot summer comes to an end.