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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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