$3 Billion for Mining: The West’s Critical Minerals Wake-Up Call

On August 7th US President Donald Trump announced a mining/critical minerals  investment package of roughly $3 billion. The announcement came during a mining industry round-table at the State Department. Trump said the administration was backing a series of projects intended to expand U.S. production of critical minerals.

Trump’s investment in mining and critical minerals is about much more than securing new sources of ore. It is about reducing the West’s dependence on China for processing the minerals it needs.

For decades, China has built a dominant position in the critical minerals supply chain, particularly in processing, separation and refining. This means that even when minerals are mined elsewhere, they may still depend on Chinese processing capacity before they can be turned into materials suitable for advanced manufacturing, energy technologies and defence applications. That dependence has become a strategic vulnerability.

The US investment signals a growing determination to bring critical-mineral processing capacity back to the West and develop more resilient supply chains. Crucially, this requires investment not just in mines, but in the technologies, pilot plants, research programmes and skilled people needed to process increasingly complex resources economically.

The emphasis on universities and research is therefore particularly significant. More than $180 million is being directed towards mining education and workforce development, including support for U.S. mining schools to train the next generation of engineers, geologists, technicians and other specialists needed to expand domestic capacity. This reflects a wider concern about the shortage of skilled workers across the mining sector, at a time when the U.S. is seeking to bring more critical mineral production and processing onshore. Alongside workforce development, other programmes are supporting research into critical mineral processing, recycling and recovery from unconventional resources. This is important because securing supply is not simply a question of finding new deposits: it also depends on developing more efficient ways to extract, separate and recover minerals from existing ores, waste streams and alternative sources, helping to reduce reliance on overseas processing and build more resilient domestic supply chains.

This is directly relevant to MEI’s Critical Minerals ’26. The conference will focus on the technologies needed to process and recycle critical minerals from primary and secondary resources - precisely the capabilities that the West needs to develop if it is to build supply chains that are less dependent on China.

The strategic objective is becoming increasingly clear: the West needs not only its own mines, but its own processing expertise and capacity. The coming years could therefore see a major shift in where critical minerals are processed; from a supply chain heavily centred on China towards more geographically diverse capacity in the US, Europe and other allied nations.

For the minerals processing community, this represents both a major challenge and a major opportunity. The technologies developed today could determine where the critical minerals supply chains of tomorrow are built.

That makes the forthcoming agenda at Critical Minerals ’26 in Cape Town especially timely.

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Developments in Heap Leaching as a Technology Choice for Value Extraction from Primary and Secondary Resources

Heap leaching is part of the group of “percolation leaching” processes that selectively remove metal values from an ore into a suitable aqueous leaching agent that seeps through a pile or mass of the ore. It has become well-established technology choice for the treatment of low-grade copper and gold ores and is also practiced for uranium ores and REE recovery from ion adsorption clays. Various other applications (Zn, Ni, PGMs) have been explored but not reached commercial significance as yet. 

Apart from the different chemistries and mineralogies, all these applications operate on very similar principles, which will be laid out in some detail in a keynote from Prof. Jochen Petersen, of the University of Cape Town, at Hydrometallurgy '27.

Selection of heap leaching as process technology is primarily driven by its ability to extract value from low-grade materials, as the need for high capital and operating expenditures, especially for intensive comminution processes to produce a concentrate material for further processing, is avoided. However, the relatively long time required to recover the metal value from larger particles, with overall poorer metal extraction achieved, imposes certain economic penalties which have resulted in heap leaching remaining limited to low-grade ores.

Nonetheless, ever-increasing energy costs and awareness of the associated carbon footprint have recently led to a re-evaluation of the technology for primary ores. At the same time the drive towards resource efficiency and the attainment of circular economies for many metals has also opened significant opportunities for the heap leaching of tailings and waste materials and thus a re-evaluation of the technology. Some examples of these developments will be discussed in Jochen's presentation.

Jochen holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, where he is now Full Professor after a research career spanning close on 30 years in hydrometallurgy. His research covers leaching and recovery of Cu, Ni, Zn, PGMs, Au and REEs from both primary minerals and secondary resources such as e-waste. His key field of expertise is heap leaching.

Jochen has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and supervised 15 PhDs and 60 MScs to graduation. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Hydrometallurgy 2011-2021 and held a prestigious South African Research Chair 2018-2022.

Jochen at Biohydrometallurgy '10 in Cape Town after
being appointed the new co-editor of Hydrometallurgy.
 He is with Dean Eastbury, his publishing manager at Elsevier

Hydrometallurgy27
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Close encounters with a wild dolphin

August is always a quieter time, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, where many families are away on holiday. So, today's blog is something a little different from the usual- a look back at a magical couple of months in Cornwall almost half a century ago.

This summer has been unusually hot, and thousands of visitors have taken to the sea. Many have joined wildlife safari trips along the Cornish coast, where the relatively warm waters, influenced by the Gulf Stream, attract an abundance of marine life. Seals are a familiar sight, while basking sharks, the world's second-largest fish, are regular seasonal visitors. Dolphins, however, are always the favourites, delighting passengers and photographers alike.

Dolphins are usually seen in pods, but in early 1978 a solitary male bottlenose dolphin made Falmouth his home. Soon affectionately known by locals as "Beaky", he became something of a celebrity, enchanting residents and visitors alike. For a remarkable period, he chose the harbour and surrounding waters as his territory, creating unforgettable encounters for those lucky enough to meet him. 

The safe waters of the harbour were a favoured location for Camborne School of Mines (CSM) divers to undertake their open water training and it must have been an unforgettable experience for them to share the water with a 350 kg dolphin.

Novice CSM diver and Beaky in Falmouth Harbour

One novice CSM diver, however, probably wished he could forget his first meeting with Beaky.

As Diving Officer for both the CSM and Falmouth branches of the British Sub-Aqua Club, I spent many Sunday mornings supervising students on their first shallow open-water dives. One such dive took place in the rocky gullies off Pendennis Headland, at the mouth of the Fal Estuary.

Beaky and CSM divers off Pendennis Headland

Keeping a close eye on the stream of bubbles from a novice and his experienced Falmouth club buddy, I noticed a familiar dorsal fin approaching. Moments later the fin disappeared beneath the surface, only to be replaced by an explosion of bubbles and the student bursting from the water shouting, "Shark! Shark!"

Still visibly shaken, he later explained what had happened. He had felt a firm nudge in the middle of his back and, turning round, found himself face to face with a large dark shape, a towering dorsal fin and two beady eyes. It was hardly surprising that his imagination ran wild, this was only two years after the release of the movie Jaws!

For the more experienced divers, deeper dives were made in Falmouth Bay from the 24-foot Pisces, skippered by local fisherman Ken Dunstan. Ken had recently been one of the four-man team to make the first deep dive on the wreck of the Rinovia (see post of 22 February 2024).

Beaky soon became familiar with the sound of Pisces and regularly accompanied us on our dives. He would even join us on deep wreck dives for five minutes or so before returning to the surface for air, only to reappear and continue swimming alongside us. 

Word of these remarkable encounters inevitably spread, and in early 1978 we were contacted by the BBC's Blue Peter, then at the height of its popularity as the world's longest-running children's television programme. The production team wanted to see whether Beaky might feature in the programme, so they sent a young researcher to spend a day aboard Pisces in search of Cornwall's famous dolphin.

The search proved remarkably short. Just minutes after leaving Falmouth Harbour, Beaky appeared. We dropped anchor and slipped into the water, where he immediately treated us to one of his wonderful displays, much to the delight of our visitor.

Bottlenose dolphins can reach speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h), and one of Beaky's favourite antics was as exhilarating as it was startling. He would charge towards you at full speed before suddenly slamming on the brakes just a few feet away, sending a wall of water crashing over your head. The first time it happened it was impossible not to flinch,until you realised he seemed to take as much pleasure in the surprise as we did.

At one point Ken and his seven-year-old daughter, Nicola, entered the water together. Beaky gently approached them before allowing Nicola to hold his dorsal fin as he slowly carried her in a small circle. It was one of those magical moments that none of us present would ever forget.

Nicola is introduced to Beaky....

Before holding on for a memorable ride

It was February, however, and before long the cold drove us back towards the boat. Beaky, though, clearly hadn't finished playing.

He disappeared beneath the surface and reappeared a minute later with the anchor line draped around his beak. Then, to everyone's amusement, he gently towed Pisces just beyond our reach. After several more minutes of his playful antics, we eventually managed to climb aboard. Our Blue Peter researcher was completely captivated by both Beaky and her first visit to Cornwall, promising that the full production team would soon be returning.

Towing the boat out of reach!

I wish there was a happy end to this story, but that was the last we ever saw of Beaky. Shortly after this episode a series of major winter storms hit the area and Beaky was never seen again. No one knows what became of him. He may simply have moved on, died naturally, or perhaps fallen victim to human activity. There has never been any definitive explanation.

Whatever his fate, those few magical months remain one of my most treasured memories of life beneath the waters of Cornwall. Everyone who encountered Beaky carried away a story to tell, and nearly fifty years later, he is still remembered with great affection by those fortunate enough to have shared his extraordinary world.

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Congratulations Mari Lundström on the award of the Faraday Medal

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Electrochemistry Interest Group Faraday Medal is one of the most prestigious international awards in electrochemistry. It is presented annually by the RSC to recognise outstanding mid-career electrochemists working outside the UK and Ireland.

The 2026 Faraday Medal has been awarded to Mari Lundström, Professor of Hydrometallurgy at Aalto University, Finland. The award will be presented this month at Electrochem 2026 in York, UK, where she will also deliver the Faraday Medal Lecture.

Mari (2nd left) at an IOM3 conference in Cambridge in 2015 with
Barry and Barbara Wills, Stephen Neethling and Nick Wilshaw

Professor Lundström is internationally recognised for her pioneering work in electrochemical and hydrometallurgical processes for the sustainable recovery of critical and precious metals. Her research focuses on:

• Electrochemical extraction and refining of metals.
• Recycling of lithium-ion batteries and electronic waste.
• Recovery of critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and precious metals.
• Designing low-carbon, circular-economy processes for metal production.
• Bridging fundamental electrochemistry with industrial-scale implementation.

Her work has become particularly important as demand for battery materials has grown rapidly due to electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies. We are hoping that Mari might present her work at Hydrometallurgy '27 in Cape Town next year and that we might also see her at Critical Minerals '26 in November.

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July summary: Memories of 60 years ago; another heatwave and another PM

 Sixty years ago today Barbara and I were travelling from Lancashire to Kent for a family holiday. The roads were relatively quiet in those days, but on that Saturday they were almost deserted. The recently opened M1 motorway was eerily quiet, but the few vehicles on the road would periodically sound their horns and flash their headlights in unison. They were celebrating the four goals scored by England against West Germany in the FIFA World Cup final at Wembley.

It now seems so long ago; Barbara and I were 19 and 20 and now hat-trick scorer Sir Geoff Hurst, who. like us, was born in Ashton-u-Lyne, is the only survivor of the victorious England team, and only four of the German team are alive today.

1966: off to celebrate England's World Cup Win

The victory was expected to herald the beginning of a new era in international football, dominated by England. Unfortunately it has not turned out that way and England's 1966 triumph has now been followed by 15 subsequent World Cups, and England has not won another. Optimism that "football is coming home" at the start of each campaign has been followed by disapointment. They reached the semi-final in 1990 and 2018 and then this month hopes were that their third semi-final would surely end their disappointing run.

But the long wait continues,  as on the 15th of the month they met their old adversary, reigning champions Argentina and lost 2-1. There is not much love lost between the two footballing nations. Their first major World Cup meeting came at Wembley in 1966. England won 1-0 in a famously hostile match. Argentina captain Antonio Rattín (who died this month) was sent off, but refused to leave the pitch immediately, creating a major controversy. England manager Alf Ramsey later claimed that the Argentinians had behaved like "animals", a comment that deepened resentment and helped establish a fierce rivalry.

Argentina won the World Cup in 1986, the quarter-final being the most famous England-Argentina game, where Diego Maradona scored the infamous "Hand of God" goal and minutes later scored the "Goal of the Century", dribbling past several England players, to beat England 2-1.

So the usual disappointing end but congratulations to Spain, who dominated a scrappy final, beating a cynical Argentina 1-0, a scoreline which did not do justice to Spain's dominance. It was a poor game, which was a shame as this was a wonderful tournament with some great sporting moments.

No more so than England's scintillating encounter with France in the "runners- up" match in Miami. England endured extreme heat and humidity in Miami for their quarter final match against Norway, and they were back to the oppressive Florida conditions three days after the semi-final when they beat France 6-4 in a remarkable match, after being 4-0 up at half time. Winning the bronze medal made this England's best World Cup performance since 1966.

And talking of heat, Europe and the UK experienced the third heatwave of the year and the longest so far, at around 3 weeks in many places, with wildfires devastating many parts of Europe and the UK, leading to mass evacuations in France and Spain. Luckily, Falmouth's coastal location means temperatures are moderated by the sea, so while inland Cornwall has reached 29-30°C, Falmouth has more often been in the 22-27°C range, and the water, as always, has been the place to be.

Cooling off at a busy Falmouth beach and the tranquility of the nearby Helford River

As well as another heatwave in the UK, hot news is of a new Prime Minister, Labour's Andy Burnham, who becomes the 7th PM in ten years. If he can survive until the latest date for the next general election he would be in office for 3 years and 26 days and would be the longest serving PM since Theresa May took office in 2016, holding the position for 3 years and 11 days. Time will tell!

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The first AI-assisted mineral processing book series

I am sure that any mineral processor who uses LinkedIn cannot fail to have noticed the proliferation of books announced every few days by the author Tony Escorcio, a mineral process engineer with more than 45 years experience in the metallurgical and chemical engineering fields. He has an engineering degree from the University of Witwatersrand and has, over the years, filled many roles from plant management, process development, plant design and commissioning to process equipment specialist. Currently, apart from consulting work, he uses his knowledge base to develop courses and books for mineral processors.

Some of the books in the series

Currently there are over 20 books in the series and I asked him how he manages to churn out volumes at such a high frequency. He said that he has an extensive knowledge base spanning 45 years and what would take a single author years to collate and edit he has been fortunate to be aided by some modern tools and apps. "Back in the day", he said, "we would go to a library and peruse dozens of reference books to collate the information, it's different today".

I asked about modern tools and apps and whether this meant AI and he said that this includes AI-assisted tools. He has used these primarily to help organise material, improve structure, develop drafts from his own technical notes and experience, edit language, generate illustrative ideas, and speed up formatting and preparation. He sees these tools as an aid to collation, drafting and presentation, not as a substitute for experience or professional review, the technical judgement, subject matter, examples and final responsibility being his.

He describes the book series as a practical mineral process engineering series aimed mainly at plant metallurgists, process engineers, operations personnel, commissioning teams, project engineers, consultants, and advanced students who want a plant-focused view of the discipline. They are not intended to replace standard academic texts, but rather to complement them by focusing on the realities of plant operation, troubleshooting, project execution, commissioning, ramp-up and metallurgical control.

He says that the intention behind the books is not to present them as academic textbooks in the same category as established, peer-reviewed works such as Mineral Processing Technology. Rather, they are intended as practical, experience-based guides for people working in and around mineral processing plants. The aim has been to capture, in an accessible form, much of the practical knowledge that is often learned only after many years on operating plants, projects, commissioning teams, troubleshooting assignments and plant studies.

At present, Amazon is the main route for obtaining the books. They are self-published, which has allowed the author to move quickly and address practical topics that are not always covered in detail in traditional publishing. There are several volumes either completed, in draft form, or in development. 

The recent books on metallurgical accounting, commissioning and ramp-up, and related subjects are part of a broader practical series covering topics such as plant operations, sampling, mass balancing, flotation, comminution, gold processing, project management, commissioning, ramp-up, and process engineering practice. The books have not gone through the same formal external peer-review process as a conventional academic or publisher-led textbook. They have been reviewed and revised by the author against his own industry experience, and he is open to feedback from practitioners, academics and readers as the series develops and, where necessary, he intends to improve future editions based on constructive comments.

As an author of a mineral processing book it would not be fair for me to analyse or review any of the books in the series but I would welcome views from those who have read any of the volumes. Is AI the future for book authorship?  Personally I hope not, particularly as negotiations are currently in the offing for a 9th edition of Mineral Processing Technology!

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Age Brings Invaluable Experience to Processing of Critical Minerals

At 80 years of age I am a youngster compared with some in our profession. That prolific scribe Prof. Fathi Habashi was churning out books and book reviews and giving keynote lectures well into his 90s and Prof. Graeme Jameson is still leading a team of researchers on "long term" flotation projects at the age of 90.

Fran Burgess has highlighted, on LinkedIn, an article showing how an 86-year-old metallurgist has been lured out of retirement because the Western world has run out of people who know what he knows. 

Metallurgy is not a simple discipline. Rare earth processing alone can involve dozens of extraction stages and years of hands-on experience that lives in people and walks out the door with them when they leave.

Rare earth plants are particularly complicated and expensive to build, but perhaps the biggest challenge is finding talent to run the facilities. Even if Western companies secure enough raw materials to reduce reliance on China, which dominates every stage of the supply chain, from mining to magnets, there are few chemical engineers and metallurgists experienced in rare earths.

"When companies ask me where to find them" 86-years old Jack Lifton said "start with the cemeteries, then check assisted care". Lifton, a former retiree turned consultant, whose clients include Energy Fuels Inc., one of the U.S.’s most ambitious rare earth firms said "anyone in the U.S. with experience is either dead or, like me, very old".

Jack Lifton

Separating the 17 rare earth elements can involve dozens of extraction stages and expertise taught at only a handful of universities or acquired through years in industry. Much of that know-how has migrated to China, now the world’s primary employer of specialists.

Some U.S. companies are partnering with universities to recruit students in engineering, metallurgy and chemistry. Others are poaching employees from rivals. At one company in France, a key team of engineers are in their 80s and, like Lifton, have been lured from retirement to help troubleshoot mineral processing plants.

There are great opportunities for young mineral processors in the processing of rare earths and other critical minerals. One young person mentioned in the article is  Neil Hogan, a 24-year-old chemical engineer who graduated from Pennsylvania State University this year. Neil was the only person in his class to enter the rare earth industry, recently joining Aclara Resources Inc. to help the Brazilian company develop a processing plant in Louisiana, which will produce refined forms of terbium and dysprosium. He said that the appeal wasn’t financial; he wanted to help rebuild a Western rare earth supply chain, and contribute to an industry still taking shape.

The energy transition the world is counting on runs on critical minerals and there will be plenty of opportunity to network and develop contacts in these areas in Cape Town in November, at Critical Minerals '26 and Process Mineralogy '26.

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Progress in the understanding of leaching reactions and reactors

Leaching and dissolution are central to hydrometallurgical processes. Over the last quarter of a century, steady progress has been made in modelling of leaching reactors, with large tank and autoclave installations across the globe. At the same time, progress in understanding the mechanisms of dissolution of both economic and gangue minerals has been made. 

At next year's Hydrometallurgy '27, Dr. Frank Crundwell, of CM Solutions, South Africa, will survey this progress. Of particular importance are progress in three specific areas: 

1. there is a growing acknowledgement that the electronic structure of sulphide minerals is crucial;
2. a novel mechanism of the dissolution of silicates and oxide minerals has been proposed; and
3. a better comprehension of the dissolution of salts, such as gypsum and carbonates, has been achieved. 

The main concepts of these models will be described, and examples provided. 

Frank Crundwell graduated with degrees in chemical engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, Between 1985 and 1990 he worked at Mintek, where he was seconded as an objector to military service under the apartheid government. He joined the faculty of the University of the Witwatersrand in 1990. In 1999, he joined Billiton and BHP Billiton Capital. In 2002, he established CM Solutions, an engineering consultancy, which has grown steadily. 

He received the Wadsworth Award of the SME in 2020 and the Gold Medal of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers. He was elected to the prestigious US National Academy of Engineers in 2023, for his research on the mechanisms of dissolution.

We would also like to thank our latest sponsor to Hydrometallurgy '27, mining and metallurgical services consultancy Promet101, who are already kindly sponsoring Process Mineralogy '26, Critical Minerals '26, AI in Mineral Processing '27 and Flotation '27.  Promet101 owner and process engineering consultant Stuart Saich said "the contribution of MEI Conferences to our industry deserves our support".

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July Cornish Mining Sundowner: news of progress at South Crofty

It was 25°C in Falmouth yesterday, ideal conditions for the well attended Cornish Mining Sundowner at the Chain Locker.

There was some talk of England's defensive retreat in their agonising World Cup semi-final 2-1 loss to Argentina on Wednesday and there was also news of progress in developing the South Crofty tin mine in Camborne. Front-End Engineering Design has been completed by Ausenco, and the project has moved into detailed engineering. This is a significant step before full construction.

Excavation for the pre-concentration plant is around 50% complete, with civil works expected to continue through 2026. The pre-concentration plant will remove waste rock by TOMRA sorters before ore enters the main processing circuit, reducing operating costs. Orders are being placed for long-lead equipment, and Cornish Metals Inc expects construction of the main processing facilities to follow the engineering work, with procurement continuing throughout 2026.

Paterson & Cooke is designing the paste backfill plant, which mixes mine tailings with binder so they can be pumped back underground. MEI is pleased to have this company as sponsors of Hydrometallurgy '27 and Flotation '27 in Cape Town.

The first commercial production at South Crofty is still targeted for mid-2028 and once fully operational, is expected to produce approximately 4,700 tonnes of tin in concentrate per year over an initial mine life of around 14 years, making it one of Europe's few primary tin producers.

The next Cornish Mining Sundowner is on Thursday August 20th, at the Chain Locker from 5.30pm.

MEIBlog

Mining in World History

I have just been re-reading the excellent Material World (posting of 13th March 2025) and noticed this time that the book Mining in World History was cited quite a few times. The author of Material World, Ed Conway, says that this is the best book that he has encountered on the history of mining, on copper but also a panoply of other materials.

Mining in World History was published in 2002 and authored by Martin Lynch, the son of Prof Alban Lynch. 

We are very fortunate to have Martin at Critical Minerals '26, where he will make a presentation arguing that substitution with aluminium may represent the most effective response to looming global copper shortages.

Mining in World History deals with the history of mining and smelting from the Renaissance to the present day, showing the interplay of personalities, politics and technology which have together shaped the metallurgical industries over the last 500 years. 

Martin opens with the invention, sometime before the year 1453, of a revolutionary technique for separating silver from copper, an event that revived the rich copper-silver mines of central Europe and the ruling ambitions of the Habsburg emperors who owned them. The flood of silver from Spain’s newly-conquered American colonies brought about the demise of these mines, and Martin then examines the far-reaching changes brought to mining and smelting by the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution. 

The book then looks at the era of the gold rushes and the comprehensive developments in mineral extraction and technology that took place in the United States and South Africa at the end of the nineteenth century, and describes the spread of mass metal-production techniques across the world amid the violent struggles of the twentieth century and the energy crises of the 1970s. 

Mining in World History was the first book to provide an account of how and why change and advance in this global industry have taken place in different eras and locations around the world. Ed Conway's Material World builds on this and the two books are highly recommended not just for those in the minerals industry, but for anyone with an interest in how the world works.

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Process Mineralogy '26: programme now available

Monday's posting contained memories of Automated Mineralogy '06 in Brisbane, the first of three annual conferences held in Brisbane, before evolving into Process Mineralogy '10 in Cape Town. 

The process mineralogy series proved very successful and the 8th in the series will be held in Cape Town in November.

The full programme for Process Mineralogy '26, including abstracts and details of the presenters, can be found on the conference website, and a pdf of the timetable is also available.  

Over 40 presentation are scheduled over the three days, including two keynote lectures from Tassos Grammatikopoulos, of SGS Natural Resources, Canada and Lucas Pereira, of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Germany.

As with all MEI Conferences, time has been made available for networking. The long coffee and lunch breaks will be held in the exhibition area, and there is one exhibit booth still available for rental.

Lunch in the exhibition area at Process Mineralogy '24

The late afternoon sundowner will be held in the Vineyard Hotel gardens and the conference dinner at nearby Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, both great locations with a background of Table Mountain.

Sundowner at Process Mineralogy '24

Process Mineralogy '14 at Kirstenbosch

We thank our sponsors, Promet101, Hitachi, Capstone Copper, AECI Mining Chemicals, Petrolab and ZEISS  and our media sponsors International Mining and Minerals Engineering.

We look forward to seeing you at Process Mineralogy '26 and to Critical Minerals '26 which immediately follows. This video of Process Mineralogy '14 will show you what to expect if this is your first time at an MEI Conference in Cape Town.

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#CriticalMinerals26
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Memories of Automated Mineralogy '06, Brisbane

Twenty years ago this month the Hilton Hotel, Brisbane, Australia was the venue for MEI's inaugural Automated Mineralogy '06, a follow up to Applied Mineralogy '03 in Helsinki three years earlier. Organised in collaboration with Intellection with media partner the Gold & Minerals Gazette, this was the first of three annual conferences held in Brisbane, before evolving into Process Mineralogy '10 in Cape Town. 

Automated Mineralogy '06 brought together professionals concerned with the analysis and interpretation of mineralogical data using automated techniques, as well those involved with the development of hardware and software solutions to aid automated mineralogical analysis. The meeting attracted a wide spectrum of attendees including mineralogists, geologists, microscopists, process and mining engineers, analysts, business managers, and consultants. A total of 90 delegates representing nine countries attended the two-day conference at which 27 technical presentations plus exhibits from a number of key institutions and equipment suppliers, kept delegates informed. A full report was kindly supplied by Mark Pownceby, of CSIRO Minerals and selected papers were published in Volume 16 Issue 11 of Minerals Engineering.

A few surviving photos from the event are shown below:

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Critical Minerals '26 programme now available

We are pleased to announce an outstanding programme for Critical Minerals '26 in Cape Town. The full programme, including abstracts and details of the presenters can be found on the conference website, and a pdf of the timetable is also available.

Thirty-nine presentations are scheduled over the two days, including two high-profile keynotes from Prof. Jacques Eksteen and Prof. Chun-Xia Zhao, the response being such that we have closed abstract submission, any abstracts now being received being put on a waiting list.

As with all MEI Conferences, time will also be given for socialising and networking, including welcoming and closing receptions and an informal conference dinner at the nearby Wild Fig restaurant, which impressed us at the recent Mineral Processing Circuits '26.

Dinner pre-drinks at the Wild Fig restaurant at Mineral Processing Circuits '26

There will be a very small exhibition at the conference, and one booth is currently available.  

Thanks to our sponsors Promet101, Capstone Copper, Petrolab and AECI Mining Chemicals, our media partners International Mining and Minerals Engineering and our industry advocate CEEC: Coalition for Minerals Efficiency.

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June summary- dynamic Falmouth, birthday milestones and sad news from Germany

The month of May ended with a heatwave with unusually high temperatures down here in Cornwall, but the first two weeks of June were unusually cold and wet. The dismal weather continued to the middle of the month, when the annual UK Mining Conference in Cornwall was held in Falmouth. With a record attendance of 480 delegates it was good to catch up with familiar faces from as far away as Australia.

With Australian delegates Nigel Grigg and Ben Wraith, of Gekko Systems

And congratulations to Prof. Frances Wall, of Camborne School of Mines, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the conference dinner.  Frances was a keynote lecturer at MEI's Process Mineralogy '18 in Cape Town.

Frances Wall (left) in Cape Town, 2018

There's always something going on in Falmouth, Cornwall's jewel in the crown, and the weekend after the conference crowds flocked into the town for the annual Sea Shanty Festival. It takes over Falmouth every June, filling pubs, quaysides, beer gardens, streets and waterfront stages with traditional maritime songs, folk music and huge crowd singalongs. There were pirates everywhere!

Also in the middle of the month we announced a keynote lecture for next year's Hydrometallurgy '27. Dr. Kathy Sole will highlight the Nchanga Tailings Leach-Solvent Extraction-Electrowinning process, showing how this elegant process conforms to the principles for a circular hydrometallurgy circuit and can be considered to have been ahead of its time with respect to these ideas. Today, some 20% of world primary copper cathode is produced using this technology, with the dominant contribution coming from the African Copper Belt, so those who undertook the bold decision to develop this technology can hold their heads up high.

It is now over half a century since the development and construction of the massive plant on the Zambian Copperbelt, and only a few of the members of the team are still alive, but I was pleased to hear from the survivors shortly after my posting of 8th June. 

Ken Severs said that he was a minor contributor to the plant, his association with it being merely the months before he was, in October 1970, transferred to the newly-established Zambian Engineering Unit in Ashford, England. but in January 1971 he worked with Les Stewart in Arizona, using the Bagdad commercial plant as an experimental test facility for the tailings leach plant.

Les Stewart, who now lives in Alderney in the Channel Islands, emailed to say that being Tailings Leach Superintendent was an exciting start to his career, much of which he owes to Jack Holmes, who led the project.

Paul Smithson, who is now retired in Malta, emailed to wish all the best to the remaining Nchanga hands. Paul was involved with the high grade leach plant when I was transferred there briefly in 1973, prior to my departure from Zambia.  As was Willem Duyvestyn, who became a member of the tailings leach project. Willem is now semi-retired in Colorado, developing novel technologies for various critical metals including a novel chalcopyrite leaching technology.

The man who will forever be associated with the project and who made the final recommendation for the go-ahead, is Jack Holmes. He and his wife live in Somerset West, just 35 miles from Cape Town and despite being in his mid-90s he is planning to attend Hydrometallurgy '27 next year to hear Kathy's keynote. 

We celebrated two special birthdays this month. Very best wishes from all the family to Jon, who reached the milestone of his 50th birthday on the 17th. 

A week later, the legendary flotation scientist Prof. Graeme Jameson celebrated his 90th birthday. Congratulations, Graeme, from all of us at MEI, on this remarkable occasion. Your contributions to the minerals industry have left an enduring legacy, and it has been a privilege for so many of us to know and work with you over the years. 

We hope that Graeme will be able to join us at Flotation '27 in Cape Town next year, as, although he formally retired at the end of 2022, he and his small research team are working on two long-term projects. In the first, making use of a new way of improving the flotation kinetics and ultimate recovery of floatable particles and in the second aiming to reduce the size of flotation cells significantly, to reduce footprint and volume, hopefully by an order of magnitude.

I will always treasure the photograph taken at Flotation '25 of Graeme and me with our grandsons, Sam and Will. A wonderful memory of a very special occasion, where we celebrated my 80th birthday!

Graeme and me with grandsons Will and Sam

In the photo below, taken nine years ago at the SME Annual Meeting in Denver, Graeme is with Dr. Hanna Horsch, who was then with Hazen Research, Colorado.  Yesterday I was shocked and saddened to hear that Hanna died eight days ago in Germany.

Hanna was a lovely person and an exceptional mineralogist with over 25 years' experience in academia, industry and research organisations, mainly in the fields of applied and instrumental mineralogy.  She had many years experience with Anglo American Research Labs, then Intellection, FEI, Hazen Research, Inc. and SGS. She was a contributor to six MEI Conferences, in automated mineralogy, process mineralogy and flotation and we would catch up regularly at SME Annual Meetings. Our thoughts are with Hanna's family and ex-colleagues.

And finally,  just as the month of May ended with a heatwave, a record-breaking heatwave hit Europe and the UK at the end of this month, with parts of southern England facing temperatures in the high 30s C.  This month's heatwave was hotter in peak temperature, more humid, and more disruptive than that in May. Although May in Falmouth felt like a brilliant early summer spell, last week felt more like proper heatwave conditions, but the sea stopped it becoming as extreme as much of southern England.

The sea is the place to be at 31C: Falmouth's Swanpool beach

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Memories of Hydrocyclones '06, Falmouth

Hydrocyclones '06 was MEI's 2nd international symposium on hydrocyclones and was sponsored by Krebs Engineers.

Held over two days, 20 years ago this month, it immediately followed Ultrafine Grinding '06 at the Falmouth Beach Resort Hotel.

Fifteen papers were presented and selected papers were published in Volume 20 Issue 4 (2007) of Minerals Engineering.

Photos from the event are shown below:

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The Journey to Circuit Optimisation Starts with the Small Stuff

In comminution circuit design and optimisation, emphasis is often placed on the shiny, bright lights of innovation, equipment selection and flowsheet configuration. In a keynote lecture at Comminution '27, Dr. Richard (Ted) Bearman, of Bear Rock Solutions, Australia, will argue that small stuff is frequently dismissed but cumulatively can create significant losses in throughput, equipment availability and product quality. Beyond that there are also concomitant effects on power and circuit effectiveness, which may lessen the original benefits and dim the brighter future being pursued.

Ted will examine these "micro-losses" within crushing and grinding circuits, drawing on site-based experience and assessments across multiple operations. To illustrate the points, specific operational cases will be provided to show what can happen, why it occurred and steps to avoid such situations. By sweating the "Small Stuff", through timely identification of issues, focused attention and systematic operational analysis, the aim is to demonstrate that substantial improvements in comminution circuit performance can be achieved. 

Richard (Ted) Bearman, holds a B.Eng and PhD from the Camborne School of Mines, UK, and has been working in comminution and technology for 39 years.  He has worked for equipment suppliers, research organisations and mining companies and since 2009 has operated the Bear Rock Solutions consulting business.  Dr. Bearman has a focus on technology, comminution, systems optimisation, simulation and effectiveness of resource recovery, all within the context of cross-functional studies spanning geology, mining and processing. 

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