Process Mineralogy '14 is only 4 days away

Barbara and I are just about to leave for Heathrow, Jon and Amanda follow tomorrow. We are off to Cape Town for Process Mineralogy '14, which starts on Monday.

This is a much smaller conference than the previous two process mineralogy conferences, as times are hard in the mining industry at the moment due to falling commodity prices. The fortunes of the minerals industry rise and fall in cycles and we have learned that we must ride out these troughs and look forward to better times. Many of the regular faces will be missing next week due to companies cutting back on their travel budgets, but there will be quite a few new people to meet, so we look forward to an interesting week.

I will be publishing brief highlights each day, here and on Twitter (@barrywills) and a full report with photos is scheduled for publication on December 2nd.

Relaxing at Process Mineralogy '12

 

The need to conserve water resources

Sustainability was a major feature of last month's IMPC in Santiago. Reducing energy consumption is of major importance, but managing and reducing water consumption is now recognised as being of equal importance.

In a timely article in Minerals Engineering, CSIRO authors stress that maintaining the integrity of the local environment and ensuring a secure supply of water should continue to be the focus for water management at individual operations. At a corporate level there is a growing need for improved understanding and recognition of a company’s reliance on indirect water, and the risk factors that occur from operating in different regions. Nationally and internationally, accounting for water impacts can assist in ensuring global demands for mineral and metals are met with minimum impact on water availability and security. The study shows that the results of water footprint based analysis can be used to identify opportunities for process improvements, to prioritise water efficiency and guide infrastructure investments. Building resilience to water risks by understanding and managing direct and indirect water use will reduce the overall water supply risks facing a business, particularly when operating in water stressed regions.

Due to scarcity of fresh water and stringent regulations on the quality of discharged water, more and more flotation plants have to use groundwater, sea water or recycle water with a high concentration of electrolytes. Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of saline water (or salt solutions) on mineral flotation, effective ways to solve the problems encountered in mineral flotation plants using saline water are currently not available. In another recently published paper workers from the University of Queensland review published articles addressing the effect of saline water on the interfacial phenomena taking place in the flotation process, such as surface wettability, bubble-particle collision and attachment, mineral particle interactions and frothing. The review provides an overall picture of the current status of studies in this area and pinpoints directions of future research to address different problems associated with using saline water in mineral flotation.

I invite your comments on these important papers.

Mining in Cornwall and Devon

In the 19th Century, the world's largest sources of copper and tin were in south-west England in the county of Cornwall, and to a lesser extent in neighbouring Devon. The mines in the Camborne-Redruth area were the deepest in the world, and this area is often regarded as being the birthplace of modern mining. As copper and tin mining declined in the region, miners took their experience to all parts of the world, including the deep gold mines which were opening up on South Africa's Witwatersrand.  The legacy of this once proud industry is now only the famous engine houses, and ruins of dressing floors, which can be seen in many postings on the blog.

 

 

For those who wish to delve deeper into the history of mining in these two counties, a book has just been published which provides detailed statistics on the mines of the region. Mining in Cornwall and Devon is an economic history of mines, mineral ownership, and mine management in the South West of England. It brings together material from a variety of hard-to-find sources on the thousands of mines that operated in Cornwall and Devon from the late 1790s to the present day. It presents information on what they produced and when they produced it; who the owners and managers were and how many men, women and children were employed. For the mine owners, managers and engineers, it also offers a guide to their careers outside  the South West, in other mining districts across Britain and the world. A long section on the Duchy of Cornwall provides details of the Duchy's role as the largest mineral owner in the South West, and of the modernisation and changing administration of the Stannaries. The book is available from University of Exeter Press.

 

Computational Modelling '15 and Physical Separation '15 - Final Calls for Abstracts

There are now final calls for abstracts for Computational Modelling '15 and Physical Separation '15, which will be held back to back in Falmouth, Cornwall in June. Full details of the conferences and venue can be found on the posting of 18th August.  If you would like to present papers at these events, please submit your short abstracts no later than the end of next month.

 

Associate Editors for Minerals Engineering and IJMP

I am pleased to announce that I have, for the first time, an Associate Editor to assist with the ever increasing flow of papers to Minerals Engineering. Dr. Pablo Brito-Parada, who so ably guest edited the recent special issue on flotation will take up his duties today. Pablo is a Research Fellow at Imperial College, UK and team leader at Imperial's Rio Tinto Centre for Advanced Mineral Recovery.

 

Elsevier's International Journal of Mineral Processing also has an Associate Editor from today. Dr. Kathryn Hadler will assist the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Mauricio Torem. Kathryn was a lecturer at Imperial College, but in August took up a position as flotation consultant at Grinding Solutions Ltd, in Truro, Cornwall, UK.

 

I have every confidence that Pablo and Kathryn will enhance the quality and reputation of both these leading mineral processing journals.

Precious Metals '15 and Nickel Processing '15 - abstracts needed by the end of the month

A final reminder that if you wish to present a paper at either of the conferences in Falmouth in June, you must submit your abstract(s) no later than November 30th.

Full details of the back to back events are on the posting of 21st July.