Cornish company Gravity Mining is the latest sponsor of Physical Separation '22

We are very pleased to welcome Gravity Mining Ltd as a first time sponsor of an MEI conference. The company is the home of the original Mozley Multi Gravity Separator (MGS) which they have improved in recent years, focusing on reliability and ease of use.  Apart from the MGS the company has a range of products, and works closely with Cornish company SW Metallurgical Services to supply top quality mineral spirals for gravity mining applications.

Technical Director Treve Mildren worked with MGS inventor Richard Mozley as a Design Engineer before founding Gravity Mining and his brother David, Sales and Marketing Director, who has spent a lifetime in operational and marketing roles with mining equipment around the world, said "We are looking forward to participating in the Physical Separation '22 conference and learning about new ideas and developments. Gravity Mining's MGS is well known in its traditional tin, tungsten and tantalum markets worldwide, but we hope that sponsoring this conference will raise the product and brand exposure in new markets. Based on excellent pilot scale performance, several new chromite, gold and rare earths projects are evaluating production plants using the MGS. Learning how to recycle Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has been a new challenge as well". 

In Camborne with David and Treve Mildren

There is currently a final call for abstracts for the conference, which should be submitted before the end of February. Two high profile keynote lecturers have already signed up. Prof. Kevin Galvin, of the University of Newcastle, Australia, will discuss new challenges for gravity concentration and classification of fine particles and Prof. Neil Rowson, of the University of Birmingham and Bunting-Redditch, UK, will review the role of magnetic separation in the development of critical and strategic metal recovery flowsheets.

Much to look forward to in May.

Current Physical Separation '22 sponsors

#PhysicalSeparation22 

Human Rights, Responsible Business Conduct and Sustainable Mining

Canada’s mining industry is one of the largest in the world and is among the top producers of commodity metals and minerals, as well as a leader in the mining sector overseas with Canada home to half of the world’s publicly listed mining and mineral exploration companies. 

We are honoured to have Sherri Meyerhoffer, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), as a keynote speaker at Sustainable Minerals '22, where she will provide information on responsible business conduct and how mining companies can prevent and remedy human rights issues that may result from their operations. 

Given Canada’s overseas mining footprint, and the potential impact that mining operations can have on mining workers, communities and the environment, both positive and negative, it is critical that mining companies, including Canadian companies, operate in a sustainable and responsible manner. This includes putting in place measures to respect the rights of mining workers, and communities living in close proximity to mining operations. 

Sheri Meyerhoffer was appointed Canada’s first Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise in 2019. She is a Canadian lawyer with seventeen years experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, and thirteen years experience in international governance, rule of law and human rights. She has worked in Bhutan, Bolivia, Cuba, China, India, Jamaica, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia and the USA. Ms. Meyerhoffer has a Juris Doctor from the University of Saskatchewan and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School with a Master in Public Administration and Certificate in Management, Leadership and Decision Sciences.

We welcome Sherri to MEI's ever increasing fold.

#SustainableMinerals22

Promet101 to sponsor four upcoming MEI Conferences

We are delighted to announce that Promet101, a sponsor of the last four MEI Flotation Conferences, has agreed to sponsor four of MEI's forthcoming conferences.

Founded by CEO Stuart Saich, ProMet 101 is an international company, headquartered in Australia, with offices in Canada and Chile, whose objectives are to provide sound solutions to clients' requirements and ensure that a well-documented path from ore definition, metallurgical testing programs through to process design criteria is provided for subsequent scrutiny by third parties such as engineering entities engaged to complete detail designs or peer reviews for project financing.

Stuart Saich with MEI's Jon Wills at Flotation '19

Stuart said "So why does a small company like ours continue to support MEI through good and tough times. Well if you think carefully about it, how much effort is put into developing a technical paper. 100 or 200 hours per paper? Then what about the costs involved? By supporting MEI you are supporting a platform for the advancement of our own industry by willing individuals to advance the scientific knowledge of the very industry we belong to. What is the inherent intellectual value or investment into the knowledge base of each conference at which say 100 technical papers are presented? I would say $1-2 million a piece. And from that investment springs further value growth as ideas advance and commercialisation grows.

Why do we invest in supporting MEI every year, because it makes absolute sense! It is not about me, it is about our industry!"

The company committed to sponsorship of the first Integration, Optimisation & Design of Mineral Processing Circuits (IntegratedMinPro '22) almost two years ago, and were later joined by Hudbay Minerals as sponsors.

A month after IntegratedMinPro '22, Sustainable Minerals '22 will be held online in July, and Promet101 now joins Zeiss, Metso:Outotec, Hudbay Minerals and Weir Minerals as sponsors.

Later in the year Process Mineralogy '22 will be held, hopefully as a hybrid event, dependent on the pandemic situation, and Promet101 joins Zeiss and Bruker as current sponsors. We hope to announce a definite date and venue for this conference next month.

Flotation '23 is some time away and by then we hope to be back at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town, where Promet101 will join Hudbay Minerals, Magotteaux, Gold Ore and Metso:Outotec, the other companies who have so far committed to this event.

New book: Acid Mine Drainage: From Waste to Resources

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is essentially the flow of water polluted with metals and other substances from existing and old mining areas and is a major source of pollution. A wide range of technologies are available for preventing AMD generation and/or treating AMD before discharge, but there is a shift towards recovery of industrially useful materials and products from AMD. 

Acid Mine Drainage: From Waste to Resources explores novel methods developed for the reuse and/or recovery of industrially useful materials from AMD including generation, prediction, prevention, and remediation processes. It includes legislation and policy frameworks governing AMD and its environmental/health impacts.

The volume, published this year, is edited by Geoffrey S. Simate and Sehliselo Ndlovu, of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Prof. Ndlovu will be presenting a keynote lecture at MEI's Sustainable Minerals '22 next year.

The book provides a detailed overview of mining operations and discusses the geochemical and hydrogeological context of AMD formation, prediction and impact, presenting a holistic approach to AMD generation, prediction, prevention, and remediation processes, including reuse, recycling, and recovery of industrially useful materials from AMD.

The book also gives a detailed overview of the legislation and policy regulatory framework governing the management of AMD and analyses the effects of AMD on the environment and health.

This volume is aimed at researchers and professionals in metallurgical engineering, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, and mining engineering, including policy makers.

Nominations invited for the 2021 MEI Young Person's Award

As we enter the 3rd year of the pandemic, it is a shame that we have not been able, as yet, to present Nikhil Dhawan and Ahmad Hassanzadeh with their MEI Young Person's Awards for 2019 and 2020 respectively. Hopefully this year we might get that opportunity.

But in the meantime it is time to start thinking of who you might like to nominate for the 2021 Award, for outstanding contribution to minerals engineering by a young person in 2021.

Nominations, for persons under 35 years of age at December 31st 2021, should be submitted by email to bwills@min-eng.com by Friday March 4th. Nominations should include the name, age and affiliation of the nominee, and reasons for the nomination. The recipient will receive an engraved award and a complimentary registration to any future MEI Conference, and the presentation will be made whenever a mutually convenient situation arises.

MEI Award winners 2011-2020

@barrywills

December update: In the Bleak Midwinter

A bleak month with the omicron variant of the coronavirus circulating rapidly around the world, leading to further travel restrictions and cancellation of many organised Christmas parties.  

Matt, The Telegraph, December 8th

Dominating the news in the first week of the month was the revelation that a party had been held in 10 Downing Street in December of 2020 when London was in lockdown and such mixing was illegal. As usual the Prime Minister and his weasels tried to lie their way out of this, saying that no rules were broken, but the discovery of a recorded mock interview with the Government Press Secretary, made only a few days after the alleged event, showed without doubt that the party had taken place. The public outcry, particularly from those who had abided by the rules and missed out on seeing family, many of whom were dying alone of covid in hospitals, was intense and Johnson faced a torrid Prime Minister's Questions the following day. Later in the day he convened a press conference to announce that due to increasing infections from the omicron strain, Plan B would be instigated in England, cynics suggesting that this might be a diversionary tactic to hide the Christmas party news. Surely not!

Plan B involves wider rules on mask wearing, imploring people to work from home, and the introduction of covid passports for access to nightclubs and other large gatherings. People were urged to get their booster jabs as there is little doubt that vaccination is the key to controlling this pandemic. Early in the month it was reported that more than 90% of covid sufferers in the UK requiring the most specialist care were unvaccinated and three quarters of those in intensive care beds had not been jabbed.  In Austria compulsory vaccinations start next month and Germany may follow in early spring. The UK government policy is merely to encourage people to get jabbed, but with about 10% of adults still refusing to be vaccinated, this clearly isn’t enough. 

Vaccine passports are controversial as many consider this as an infringement of human rights. The unjabbed will sacrifice their rights to access mass events, and maybe later some shops and hospitality venues, but this will allow free choice and really is little different from requiring people to have a license to drive, or to show proof of certain required vaccinations, such as yellow fever, before travelling. Our friends in Canada say that vaccine passports in that country have been very well accepted.

The UK Government advice on guidelines has been confusing to say the least. On the 15th of the month the Red List of Southern African countries, to which travel was not permitted, was scrapped, despite covid infections reaching a record level on that day, and omicron spreading at an alarming rate. 

This time last year the UK was about to go into another full lockdown, with the infection rate in England being 580 in 100, 000. Last Monday, with the rate at 1040 in 100,000 Health Secretary Sajid Javid decided not to impose any further restrictions on Plan B, further curbs being under close review. This has led to concern about the impact on hospitals and schools, as already many staff are having to self-isolate. 

Although omicron is very contagious, infections seem to be less severe than with delta, data showing very low numbers of vaccinated people in intensive care. The number of coronavirus cases in hospital in England is less than half of what it was this time last year, despite there being three times as many cases. However some scientific advisors are concerned that the Government may be taking an overly optimistic approach, particularly as the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all introduced further restrictions last week. 

We look forward to 2022 with some trepidation.  Best wishes to you all!

@barrywills