What is comminution?

We arrived in Cape Town yesterday and the first thing on the agenda was a meeting with the staff of the Vineyard Hotel and our Cape Town agent Rene Simpson. One of the staff asked me "what is comminution?" An easy one, but the next question was not so easy- "how can you spend 4 days talking about breaking rocks?"

The weather here is superb and we have been making use of the Vineyard's pool and gardens. By the pool we met up today with John and Donna Starkey, who had a very long journey from Vancouver.

Conference delegates should find the time to explore the beautiful river walk in the hotel grounds, and look out for the famous Vineyard giant man-eating tortoises! But don't expect to soak up the sun after a long afternoon conference session. Although sunset is at 6.30 in Cape Town at this time of year, it is a very abrupt 5pm at the Vineyard, as the sun suddenly sinks below the highest point of Table Mountain.

In the evening we dined with our old friends from UCT, Cyril and Nanette O'Connor and our flotation consultant J-P Franzidis and his wife Rose in the Vineyard's excellent 'The Square'.

Comminution '10 continues to expand

Even at this late stage, registrations are still coming in for next week's Cape Town conference and the updated list of delegates has just been published.

The MEI team will be leaving for Cape Town tomorrow, so if you would like to register, please email (not fax) your form, and we will see you at the Vineyard. The final programme can be downloaded here.

I shall be adding daily news and photos of the event to the blog and I hope that delegates will also add their comments to record their own particular highlights.

Don't forget that if you submit your email address to the box in the right hand column, you will be alerted to each new posting.

New comments alert

Here are the new comments added to blog postings since the last comments alert:

AkzoNobel converts science fiction into science fact: 2 new comments
A memorable reunion in Falmouth:  1 new comment
Who was Antoine Gaudin?: 1 new comment
SME Annual Meeting, Phoenix. Sunday : 1 new comment


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View the Comminution '10 abstracts

Just over a week to go now before Comminution '10 begins in Cape Town. Click here for the final timetable, and here for the current list of delegates. Blog readers can also download the abstracts of all the papers by clicking here.

If you would like to attend the conference, it is not too late to register.

Bio and Hydrometallurgy Special Issue Published

Thirteen papers presented at Bio and Hydrometallurgy 09 in Cape Town last year have now been published in Volume 23 Number 6, a special issue of Minerals Engineering, guest edited by S.T.L. Harrison, J. Petersen and R.P. van Hille of the University of Cape Town. The papers can be viewed and downloaded via ScienceDirect.

The conference Proceedings, containing, in an unrefereed form, all the papers presented, is available on CD from MEI Online.

The next Bio and Hydrometallurgy conference will be held in Cape Town in November, immediately prior to Process Mineralogy ’10 at the same venue.

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?