March summary: family time

In my posting Visions of the Future I suggested that it is not too outlandish to predict that by mid-century Uber-like taxi services will be everywhere, cities, towns and villages. And it is also a fair prediction that by then all cars will be driverless. Travel would be safe and stress-free, driverless taxis whisking you to your destination, before moving to the nearest charging point to await the next call.

In this world there would be little incentive for owning a private car, with all the associated hassle of insurance, maintenance etc, and inter-city travel would be by electric trains and buses travelling on time and speedily on roads uninhibited by congestion.

A month ago I experienced this vision of the future in Phoenix. I arrived back at Heathrow on the first of the month after an 11 hour flight and the day before, while waiting for my Uber to take me to the airport I was amazed to see many driverless taxis whizz past my hotel on the way to pick up passengers. A true glimpse into the future and we are a long way off mid-century!

I met Barbara at Heathrow and we flew out to Luxembourg for a week with Jon and family. 

Luxembourg is a beautiful little country, with narrow medieval streets, castles and densely forested hills.

The 18th century Grand-Château d'Ansembourg

Overlooking Larochette,
dominated by the partly ruined 11th century Larochette Castle.

The country has a rich history, ancient and modern, and Schengen is a small wine-making village and commune in far south-eastern Luxembourg, on the western bank of the river Moselle, which has contributed to recent European history.

Due to its position near the borders of Luxembourg, France and Germany, Schengen was chosen as the symbolic location to sign the 1985 and 1990 treaties to eliminate border controls. The Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 provided for a progressive elimination of internal border controls and the Schengen Convention was signed on 19 June 1990 by Germany, France, and the Benelux countries Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, to allow the gradual abolition of checks at internal borders between the contracting parties.

Since 1985, other states have joined the Schengen area: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as the non-EU members, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Thanks to the single short-stay visa application, business people, tourists and other nationals can travel to each of the 26 member states of the Schengen Area with one single visa, without having to make visa applications to numerous consulates.

At the European Museum in Schengen

Although neutral, Luxembourg was occupied by the Nazis during WWII and the inhabitants suffered much deprivation, many of the young men being forcibly conscripted into the German army. There was also intense fighting, particularly in the north of the country in the Ardennes forest between Belgium and Luxembourg. The Ardennes offensive, the Battle of the Bulge, between December 1944 and January 1945 was Hitler's last throw of the dice and many of the young men killed on both sides are buried in the American and German war cemeteries outside Luxembourg city. Among the 5,074 graves in the former is that of General George Patton, who took the lead in relieving beleaguered American troups at Bastogne in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He was killed in a car accident after the war, in 1945.

American and German War Cemeteries

Our week in Luxembourg gave me and Jon the opportunity to plan the programmes for Physical Separation '24 and Mill Circuits '24 in June. The latter will be the first in this series and will include a panel discussion on the future evolution of mill circuits, chaired by Dariusz Lelinski of FLSmidth, who will also present the keynote lecture.

FLSmidth is also one of the conference sponsors, and as I mentioned in my report on the Phoenix SME, they are a huge company who have been involved with MEI Conferences for many years.  The company expanded even further this month with the acquisition of the Canadian engineering company Farnell-Thompson Applied Technologies Inc., a global supplier of engineering services, parts and mills to the mining industry. The company already has a long-standing business relationship with FLSmidth, prior to the acquisition being a consulting partner providing these services to FLSmidth for many years. 

The keynote session in Phoenix was all about why net zero by 2030 is unlikely to happen and why fossil fuels such as coal and gas are going to be needed for many years yet. The British Government must have been listening, as two weeks later prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the UK needs to build new gas-fired power stations to ensure the country's energy security, the new stations replacing existing plants, many of which are aging and will soon be retired. The government says the plans do not include measures for expensive climate change-limiting carbon capture.

Predictably the Green Alliance said it "flies in the face" of the government's promise to reach zero-carbon electricity by 2035. However the Government's approach is pragmatic, as even if an infinite number of wind turbines and solar panels were built, the reality is that they only provide energy when the weather conditions are in their favour, and in the absence of sufficient numbers of reliable and safe giant batteries fall-back options are needed. Without sufficient nuclear capacity, this means fossil fuels (see also the posting of 11th December 2023) or preferably the use of excess renewable energy on windy or sunny days to produce green hydrogen, a clean source of energy.

On a lighter note, when returning by train to Cornwall from London Paddington after our Luxembourg visit we spotted a number of Cornish Pilot Gigs in the River Tamar, which divides Cornwall from the rest of England. Looking down from Brunell's Victorian railway bridge, we were not aware that Amanda was in one of the gigs, representing one of the Helford River women's teams in the Three Rivers Race, in which 98 gigs were competing.

Amanda (right) in the Helford River gig, rowing towards the road and rail bridges
on the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall

Amanda certainly has a knack of juggling work and family commitments with her activities. Later in the month we were at the annual Mabe pantomine, where she had, as always, a leading part.

Amanda (centre) in Mabe's in the Woods

And finally, while on the subject of family, thanks to all of you who asked of the whereabouts of my twin brother Bartholomew.  He is fine, and still working with the Bodmin Institute in Cornwall after a brief spell with MEI (posting of April 1st 2015).

With brother Bart on right (or left?)

He is currently working on evaluation of the giant underground cider lake found in East Cornwall, formed by the leaching of the mineral pommerite into the groundwater.  This lake has the potential to rival the huge cider lakes found in Somerset.

Strange happenings in East Cornwall

Reports are coming in of a strange illness which is affecting a number of people in the Bodmin area of East Cornwall. The symptoms, of loss of energy, insomnia and pallor, are apparently similar to those of acute anaemia, which is usually associated with heavy blood loss. However one theory is that it may be due to release of a pocket of radon gas from one of the many old mine workings in the area.

Radon is a chemical element with symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through which thorium and uranium slowly decay into lead and various other short-lived radioactive elements; radon itself is the immediate decay product of radium. Its most stable isotope, ²²²Rn, has a half-life of only 3.8 days, making it one of the rarest elements since it decays away so quickly. However, since thorium and uranium are two of the most common radioactive elements on Earth, and they have three isotopes with very long half-lives, in the order of several billions of years, radon will be present on Earth long into the future in spite of its short half-life, as it is continually being generated. The decay of radon produces many other short-lived nuclides known as radon daughters, ending at stable isotopes of lead.

Unlike all the other intermediate elements in these decay chains, radon is, under normal conditions, gaseous and easily inhaled and is considered a health hazard. It is often the single largest contributor to an individual's background radiation dose, but due to local differences in geology, the level of the radon-gas hazard differs from location to location. It is known to occur at a relatively high level in parts of Cornwall due to the relatively high amount of uranium in the granite which underlies the whole county at various depths.

But could radon gas account for the strange symptoms suddenly manifesting themselves in this locality? I sought the opinion of Dr. Richard Head, the Director of the nearby Bodmin Institute, but unfortunately he was not available. His secretary told me that, since returning from a recent geological trip to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, he has not been seen during office hours, and has been working in his office through the night on a large soil sample which was delivered in what she described as a long and narrow rectangular box.

So I spoke to my brother, Bartholomew, who is back at the Bodmin Institute after a brief spell with MEI. He is as much perplexed by this outbreak as others, but tells me that a specialist consultant from Denmark, Prof. Elvan Singh, who apparently has had experience of similar outbreaks, will be coming over to Cornwall soon to investigate. Meanwhile Bartholomew appeals to anyone reading the blog who might be able to shed light on this very strange occurrence.

Exciting new copper discovery in Cornwall

Copper has a bewildering range of ore minerals, and soon we may add a new mineral to the list.

Geologists at Cornwall's Bodmin Institute discovered the magnificent specimen below while exploring the abandoned 19th century Wheal Snipe copper mine near Bodmin.

The specimen appears to be a form of psuedo malachite but its exact composition has not as yet been ascertained. It is also not known to what extent this mineral occurs in the workings.

As with all new mineral finds, naming the mineral is one of the priorities. It has been suggested that it be named after the Director of the Institute, Dr. Richard Head, which would be appropriate, but the geologists are open to suggestions, so maybe blog readers can assist?

Clotted cream mining set to boost the Cornish economy

Approaching the ruins of Wheal Clott

Great news this morning of another potential Cornish mining revival. It is over 150 years since klestrolite, a mineral unique to Cornwall, was mined at Wheal Clott near Redruth.

Klestrolite is the only edible mineral to have been mined in Cornwall. It is a milky-white coloured mineral, which when ground very fine and mixed with water produces a delicate creamy paste, known as 'clotted' cream' named after Wheal Clott, the only known source of the mineral. When the mine was worked out clotted cream continued to be produced in Cornwall, but made from dairy products.

Now a rich vein of klestlorite has been found associated with quartz in hydrothermal veins in the local granite. The exact location has not been revealed but it is known to be a rich source which should boost employment in the county as well as giving locals and tourists alike the real taste of a traditional Cornish cream tea.

 

It is known that klestrolite is an anti-bacterial agent, which may be why the Cornish traditionally add cream on top of jam in their scones, and, recognising this effective barrier to foreign bodies, this has led to one of President Trump's more important executive orders.

 

Could the Nobel Prize go to a mineral processor for the first time

The hot topic in physics at the moment is gravitational waves, ripples in the curvature of spacetime generated by gravitational interactions and predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 on the basis of his theory of general relativity. They were first oberved in February, and surely a Nobel Prize is imminent for the collaborative teams that made the discovery.

And could it be that a future Nobel Prize might wing its way to Cornwall, and to Prof. Richard Head's ever-resourceful team at the Bodmin Institute. Prof. Head has just announced that a small team, led by Dr. Eric McToo, has shown that a rapidly spinning flywheel can distort spacetime and effectively slow time down in its near vicinity.

Ever sceptical, I decided to test this out myself, at the local gym using an exercise bike, which of course is driven via a flywheel. I set the time for a 20 minute session and began pedalling away, but did not look at the time on the machine. After what I estimated to be 20 minutes I stopped pedalling and was astounded to see that only 15 minutes had elapsed, proof indeed of a distortion in the spacetime continuum. I have also tested this on a rowing machine, and can say categorically that such exercise equipment definitely does slow down time.

But the real challenge now lies ahead, the quest to speed up time in a selected place. This would have profound consequences for all the process industries by enhancing the kinetics of physical and chemical reactions and Dr. McToo has asked me to pass on any suggestions to how this might be achieved.

Introducing a new member of the MEI team

As most of you know, MEI is a small family business, so I am pleased to announce that my twin brother, Bartholomew (Bart) has agreed to join the team to reinforce our technical capabilities.

Bart has a PhD in homeopathic science, so was ideally suited to join Dr. Richard Head's team at Cornwall's Bodmin Institute, where he worked on major mineral processing projects such as collectorless flotation and spiral concentration.

His role will be mainly as a technical advisor to the MEI Conferences, and he will have a presence at many of them, although, to avoid confusion, we have decided that we will not appear together at the events.

The depressing effect of the humble nettle

Visitors to Cornwall in summer are always impressed by the profusion of wild flowers growing along the coastpath. But beware, as amongst this colourful display lurks the ubiquitous stinging nettle. As anyone who’s ever had a brush with them while wearing shorts will be aware, the leaves are covered with tiny stinging hairs which leave an irritating itchy rash.

MEI Conference delegates on the Falmouth coastal path

However, nettles have many other surprising qualities. For hundreds of years they’ve been used to treat a whole range of ailments, from skin conditions to head lice. They’re widely held to have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory qualities, and even to stimulate hair growth, although the latter did not work for me.

Nettle cheese production

They are also delicious when cooked, nettle products including soup, tea, porridge and beer. Delegates at the MEI Conferences in June will also get the chance to sample one of Cornwall's delicacies, nettle cheese, produced from curd which is pressed and brined before being wrapped in wild nettle leaves foraged from the Cornish countryside between May and September. The leaves are carefully brushed onto the cheese in a traditional pattern of concentric circles, attracting naturally occurring moulds which give the cheese its lacy good looks. As the cheese matures, the edible nettle rind imparts a delicate, slightly mushroomy taste.

Dr. Felix Romage, from Cornwall's famous Bodmin Institute attributes the binding of the nettles to the cheese to a strong attraction between the nettle leaves and the calcium in the cheese. He also noticed that nettle leaves tend to have a hydrophilic character, wetting very easily in their natural habitat. Preliminary research has shown that ground nettle leaves can act as a powerful depressant for calcareous gangues, and initial trials proved promising on a lead ore in a dolomitic gangue. This is just one of many on-going projects in mineral processing at the Bodmin Institute, including their pioneering work on collectorless flotation, and gravity concentration, and Dr. Romage hopes to publish the results of more comprehensive testwork on nettle depressants around this time next year.

Latest design improvements increase spiral concentrator efficiency

Spiral concentrators have, over numerous years, found many varied applications in mineral processing. Until relatively recently, all spirals were very similar, based upon the original Humphreys design, which is now obsolete. However, in recent years there have been considerable developments in spiral technology, and a wide range of devices is now available. The main areas of development have been in the introduction of spirals with only one concentrate take-off, at the bottom of the spiral, and the use of spirals without added wash water.

Spirals are now made with slopes of varying steepness, the angle affecting the specific gravity of separation, but having little effect on concentrate grade and recovery. Although a simple device, the separation mechanisms are complex, stratification being due to the combined effect of the differential settling rates of the particles, the effect of interstitial trickling through the flowing bed and the mild centrifugal force, often being likened to the stratification of particles in a river as it flows around a bend.

Southern and Northern
Hemisphere Spirals

A small team of workers at the Bodmin Institute in Cornwall has shown that this centrifugal force can be enhanced by that produced by the spin of the earth. Under the leadership of research director Dr. Corrie Hayles, they have shown that the orientation of the spiral pitch has an effect on performance, an anti-clockwise flow performing better in the UK than a spiral with a clockwise flow. Dr Hayles calls these spirals northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere devices respectively. He is now keen to develop collaboration with workers in the southern hemisphere to assess performance of the two devices, and he would be interested to hear from anyone who has any thoughts on this.

Could homeopathy provide the key to collectorless flotation?

The collectorless flotation of minerals has been one of the Holy Grails of flotation scientists. Although it has been achieved with a few highly hydrophobic materials such as diamond and anthracite, it has had little success with the vast majority of minerals, which have to be persuaded to float by the use of expensive and often toxic reagents.

Now Prof. Abel Gull and his team at the Bodmin Institute, UK, may have the answer, utilising the science of homeopathy.

Homeopathy is a controversial alternative medicine, which uses extremely diluted solutions and is claimed to work due to water having a memory, which allows homeopathic solutions to be used without any of the original substance being present (see Chaplin, M.F., The memory of water: an overview, Homeopathy, 96(3), 2007).

Prof. Gull's team treated a 10% by volume solution of xanthate using a process they call succussion, which involves serial dilution of the solution together with shaking and forceful striking on an elastic body; the exact process cannot be disclosed due to an impending patent application.

Each dilution is followed by succussion, until none of the original xanthate in the solution can be detected. However, repeated succussion produces what Prof Gull calls potentization, and the now essentially distilled water memorises the initial xanthate content. The team then found that the use of this water in sulphide mineral flotation was as effective as using the original, untreated xanthate solution.

Repeated trials have yet to be carried out, but this potential breakthrough could herald a new dawn in flotation technology, with negligible reagent usage and the concomitant reduction in treatment of environmentally hazardous tailings.

One of Prof Gull's coworkers, Dr. Richard Head commented "We are of course very excited about this work, which could be the greatest step forward in froth flotation in many years. Anyone having an interest in this technique would be very welcome at our Institute".

Did the Ancients mine tin underground in Cornwall?

It has always been thought that serious underground mining in Cornwall commenced in the 18th Century, after the invention of the steam engine, which was used to pump water from the mines.

Now recent discoveries in a shallow working at the old Wheal Emmet mine near Camborne suggest that underground mining for tin may have been performed centuries before.

Archaeologist Prof. Olivier Gy commented "this shallow old stope is unusually dry and has preserved ancient organic matter. Traces of dessicated pasty crust discarded by the miners have been carbon-dated to 230 A.D."

It is known that the Romans, who occupied Britain between 43 and 410 AD ventured into Cornwall for tin, which was found in streams and outcrops, but were they, or the indigenous Celts the first underground Cornish miners?

AkzoNobel converts science fiction into science fact

Great news in this morning from reagent manufacturer AkzoNobel.  They have developed a revolutionary new paint  which cracks one of the biggest ever scientific challenges – invisibility. Working with renowned nanotechnology Professor Olaf Proli, the company has developed a hi-tech textile coating – Invisulux® –  which renders people wearing the painted garments invisible. Successful trials have already been carried out by interested security and defense organizations.

Naturally we at MEI were slightly sceptical about the claims, but asked for a sample pot.  Surprisingly it is highly effective, as this picture of me at my desk shows.  Now it is only a matter of exploring the potential uses of this product. Does anyone have any ideas?

Could the recession increase global warming?

One of the important conclusions in the paper cited in the March 28th entry is that if man-made CO2 is a major contributor to climate change, then the current recession should slow down global warming, due to the shutdown of many major CO2 producers, such as steel-making plants and smelters.

However an article in The Times (March 23rd) poses a possible counter to this.

The recession is changing eating habits, with people now staying more at home to eat rather than at expensive restaurants. According to the Metal Packaging Manufacturers’ Association, tin can output in the final quarter of last year increased by 10% and the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus has raised the price of tinplate because of an increase in demand of up to 50%.

The market research group TNS reports that baked beans and tinned puddings are the stars of the canned food market, the volume of baked beans sold showing a recent rise of over 2%.

An increase of 2% is high, because of the sheer volume consumed, and some scientists are predicting that the associated increase in greenhouse gases could lead to a much more rapid melting of the polar ice-caps than previously predicted.