Memories of International Mineral Processing Congress 2006, Istanbul

In just over five weeks time the 32nd International Mineral Processing Congress will be held in Cape Town. The 23rd IMPC was held in Istanbul, Türkiye 20 years ago this month, from 3-8 September 2006. The location was particularly appropriate because Türkiye has a substantial and diverse mineral processing industry, including chromite, copper, lead-zinc, gold, borates, coal and iron. 

Bolstered by a huge Turkish contingent, the IMPC attracted over 900 delegates, then a record number (there were 751 at the last IMPC in USA). The conference included a strong body of research from Turkish universities and mining researchers, alongside international contributions and there were 453 presentations from 46 countries.

Three very memorable social events were held at the magnificent Dolmabahce and Beylerbeyi Palaces, the former being in the European sector of Istanbul, the latter across the Bosporus in Asia, and the farewell dinner was held at the end of the penultimate day of the conference, a magnificent affair rivalling the memorable ‘African Night’ at the previous Cape Town IMPC. In the splendid open air setting of Buyuk Klup, on the Asian side of the Bosporus, we were entertained, over an excellent 4-course meal, to live Turkish music, folk-dancing, and belly-dancing. There was a formal aspect to the evening as well, with final speeches from the organisers, and the lifetime achievement award to Prof. Heinrich Schubert. of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany.

Jon and I represented MEI, as a media partner, and some of our photos are shown below. There are many familiar faces, some sadly no longer with us, including the conference chairman, Prof. Güven Önal.

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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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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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Memories of Ultrafine Grinding '06, Falmouth

Ultrafine Grinding '06 was held in Cornwall at the ill-fated Falmouth Beach Resort Hotel, which six years later was destroyed by fire.

The two-day conference was MEI's first ultrafine grinding conference, and was also the last as it was merged into the comminution series two years later.

Attended by 64 delegates from 24 countries, sponsorship was provided by Xstrata Technology, PMT-Jetmill, Saint-Gobain Zirpro, Industrial Minerals and notably Maelgwyn Mineral Services (MMS), sponsoring their first MEI Conference. Since then MMS has regularly supported MEI Conferences, particularly the comminution and flotation series, but others as well. 

Twenty-two papers were presented over the two days and selected papers were published in Volume 20 Issue 4 (2007) of Minerals Engineering.

Photos taken at the event, including a first evening coastal path walk and a final afternoon visit to the Camborne-Redruth historical mining district, are shown below.

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Memories of Comminution '06, Perth, Australia

Comminution '06 was held at the Sheraton Hotel, Perth, 20 years ago this month. It immediately followed Gravity Concentration '06 at the same venue. The event was sponsored by Xstrata Technology, Metso Minerals and the Gold & Minerals Gazette, and Mark Fraser, of the Gold & Minerals Gazette provided a comprehensive report on the conference programme.

Comminution '06 was the 5th in the comminution series, and the most disappointing, with only 48 delegates; there had been 125 attendees at Comminution '04, also in Perth (posting of 25 March 2024).

Due to the low turnout, it was decided to give comminution another chance in a venue closer to home, and Comminution '08 was held in Falmouth, with a record 157 delegates, realistically more than the hotel could handle, so we then moved again for Comminution '10, to Cape Town, where it has remained ever since. It has progressively got bigger and better- Comminution '06 had 48 delegates and 21 presentations, over two and a half days, and last years' Comminution '25 had 237 delegates and 94 presentations over four days, and the signs are that next year's Comminution '27 will be even bigger, with 18 sponsors so far, and only one exhibition booth remaining for rental.

I am sure you will recognise a few faces at Comminution '06, and some will no doubt be seen at next year's event.

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Memories of Gravity Concentration '06, Perth Australia

Gravity Concentration '06 was held at the Sheraton Hotel, Perth, from March 13-14, 2006. It was MEI's 3rd International Gravity Concentration Symposium, and was sponsored by Falcon Concentrators, Gekko Systems, Roche Mining and the Gold & Minerals Gazette, published by Australia's Resource Information Unit.

The 2-day event was attended by 48 delegates and a full report  on the programme was provided by Mark Fraser, of the Gold & Minerals Gazette.

This was our final Gravity Concentration conference, the conference merging with Hydrocyclones, Solid-Liquid Separation and Magnetic & Electrical Separation conferences to produce the first Physical Separation conference three years later. This proved to be a very popular small conference, and the 9th in the series is only six weeks away. You may recognise a few faces below of 20 years ago, who will be at the conference in Cape Town next month:

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