IMPC Lifetime Achievement Award to John Herbst

At last night's International Minerals Processing Congress Awards Banquet in Maryland, USA, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Mineral Processing Council was bestowed to Prof. John Herbst, Adjunct Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Utah. Unfortunately, due to ill-health, John was unable to be at the Congress to accept the award in person.

Over the years John and I have bumped into each other in various parts of the world, and it was good to have John and his wife Cindy with us in 1998 for Minerals Engineering '98 in Edinburgh.

John and Cindy with Peter Radziszewski and Barbara Wills in Edinburgh, 1998

In a professional career spanning over five decades Professor John A. Herbst has had exceptionally wide-ranging global impact on mineral processing research and technology through his innovative, pioneering work, both as a member of the academic community and as a recognized industrial leader. He is recognised worldwide for his seminal contributions in the areas of modeling, simulation, optimisation and control of mineral processing unit operations in general, and particularly on industrial comminution and flotation circuits.

As a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, John Herbst became one of the pioneers in applying population balance models to ball mill comminution. After joining the faculty at the University of Utah, he collaborated with other faculty members and quickly established a research group that applied mathematical modeling to solving a range of mineral processing problems, as exemplified by several significant contributions to the metallurgical processing of particulate materials including the design of leaching systems, on-line size measurement, models for mineral liberation, ultrafine grinding of coal with stirred ball mill grinding.

He and his graduate students developed several computer programs that led to simulators for designing grinding and flotation systems. Not only did John work with ultrafine grinding, he developed models for crushers, large-scale ball mills, and particularly for autogenous and semi-autogenous (SAG) mills. These years also saw his evolving interest in developing and applying model- based control strategies for grinding and flotation plants,an area in which he had very significant industrial impact. Much of his later career was devoted to the optimisation and control of different kinds of mineral processing plants operations around the world.

Because of his growing interest in applying advanced technology directly to the mineral industry, Dr. Herbst founded Control International that was subsequently associated with Armco, which was the largest producer of steel grinding balls in the U.S. Online sensing and model-based control for grinding and flotation circuits in mineral processing plants was a major activity of the company. 

John sold his part of the business in 1996 and formed J.A. Herbst & Associates, LLC, in Salt Lake City. The overall purpose was to support companies using advanced technology in their processing operations. They developed a dynamic flowsheet simulator, a soft- sensor line for comminution, and an image analysis system for coarse size particles in grinding systems.

From 2000-2016 John was with Metso Minerals, becoming Chief Scientist and Manager of Technology Development before becoming the Robert E. Murray Chair and Professor of Mining Engineering at West Virginia University, and then Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah.

Prof. Herbst has participated and presented papers in all IMPC meetings from Xth International  Mineral Processing Congress, London, 1973, to XXVII International Mineral Processing Congress, Santiago, 2014. In 1995 he was the principal organiser and President of the XIXth IMPC/SME Conference and Exhibition held in San Francisco.

John Herbst with former Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Doug Fuerstenau (1995) and Peter King (2003) at IMPC 2003

He created the International Comminution Research Association and as its president he helped organise nine symposia in eight countries around the world. He has been a longtime member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Mineral Processing, Mineral & Metallurgical Transactions, and Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review.

He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE)in 1992, election to NAE being considered to be one of the very highest recognitions given to an engineer. The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) has honored him with several different awards: the TMS/AIME Robert Lansing Hardy Gold Medal Award (1971) for the most promising metallurgist under the age of 30, SME/AIME Henry Krumb Lecturer (1982), SME/AIME Antoine M. Gaudin Award (1989), SME/AIME Arthur F. Taggart Award (1990), and the AIME Robert H. Richards Award (1993).

In 1995 he received the Frank F. Aplan Award from the United Engineering Foundation. In addition to several teaching awards, the University of Utah recognised him with their Distinguished Research Award (1984).

Congratulations John, on behalf of all the MEI team.

IMPC Distinguished Service Award to Tim Napier-Munn

At last night's International Mineral Processing Congress Awards Banquet in Maryland, USA, I was delighted to hear that Prof. Tim Napier-Munn was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the International Mineral Processing Council, but I was disappointed that he was unable to attend the Congress to receive it.

I have known Tim for 37 years and regard him as one of the most outstanding members of the mineral processing fraternity. He was the first person who I interviewed for the MEI Blog back in 2014. When Elsevier asked me for a 7th edition of my book Mineral Processing Technology it was Tim who I turned to as the first co-editor in the series. The book was successful and was also translated into a Chinese edition.

His own book Statistical Methods for Mineral Engineers, based on his statistics course which he has presented around the world, has become a standard reference for mineral processing researchers and he is globally recognised as probably the leading exponent in the area of statistical analysis of mineral processing. Another of his many scholarly contributions was his editorship of the JKMRC “Blue Book” on comminution in 1996.

There can be few people in the global minerals processing community who have made more significant contributions to further our understanding of the technology of minerals processing than Tim, across a career spanning almost 50 years, and for the impact such outputs have had on industrial practice. 

Much of his career has been spent in senior positions at the eminent Julius Kuttschnitt Minerals Research Centre (JKMRC) at the University of Queensland.  Apart from his seminal contributions in processing technologies he has made noteworthy contributions to the study and modelling of dense-medium hydrocyclones. His PhD on this topic was undertaken at Imperial College London in 1984, but his interest continues, and he has published numerous highly cited papers on the analysis and modelling of these and other hydrocyclones. He has also made major contributions in areas such as comminution, classification and flotation and he is arguably best known for his contributions in the general area of modelling and simulation of mineral processes. 

Perhaps his most significant service to the industry has been through his Directorship of the JKMRC and JKTech.  He has played a major role in these organisations, which under his leadership have produced many outstanding graduates who are today playing major leadership roles on many continents. 

Professor Tim Napier-Munn’s many other achievements include the award of numerous prestigious honours from the IOM3 and AusIMM and he is without doubt a worthy recipient of the IMPC Distinguished Service Award. 

September summary: 50 years in Cornwall and the Fall in Washington

September is a special anniversary for me, as 50 years ago this month I began my 22 year stint at Camborne School of Mines. CSM was totally autonomous then, with no pressure to carry out research or to publish. The merger with the University of Exeter was 19 years away.

When I was growing up in northern England, Cornwall was a remote and exotic place, a land of smugglers and pirates, with tales of ships wrecked on its wild and rugged rocky coast. I never dreamt that one day I would actually live in this mystical place and be able to show the ‘birthplace of modern mining’ to minerals engineers from around the world.

In the first week of the month Linda Shimmield, the founding secretary of the CSM Association, invited past members of CSM staff for afternoon tea in Falmouth, and some of the 'golden oldies' can be seen on the photo below.

Back row: Barry Wills (Mineral Processing), Jim Harrison and John Hills (Caretaking),
Bob Pine (Rock Mechanics and former Director), Phil Oliver (Mining),
Linda Shimmield (former CSMA Secretary)
Front Row: Barbara Wills, Carol Richards (former CSMA Secretary), Joan Oliver,
Maureen Atkinson (wife of the late Keith Atkinson (Geology and former Director)

After a very pleasant week with family visitors from Luxembourg it has been a fairly quiet month, the days shortening with the arrival of autumn. Now I am in the fall in Washington, looking forward to the XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress, which begins this evening. My report on the IMPC is scheduled for October 14th.

This morning I walked in the mizzle from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial, before crossing the Potomac River into Virginia to visit the impressive Arlington National Cemetery.

Dr. Peter Hackett: 1933-2024

Very sad news from Cornwall, that Peter Hackett died peacefully after a few days illness on Monday 24th September at Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro.

Speaking at the CSM
Annual Dinner, 2021

Peter was the Principal of the Camborne School of Mines (CSM) from 1970 to 1994 and was President of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) from 1989-90.

No one did more to make CSM a modern Institution than did Dr. Peter Hackett, whose legacy will be modern degree courses and post-graduate research programmes, as well as the successful association with the University of Exeter. 

For most of my stint at CSM (1974-1996) he was Principal and I have a lot to thank him for, as he encouraged my travels around the world to conferences and visiting lectureships.  

After his retirement we caught up, fairly infrequently, at CSM events, and most memorably last November when he celebrated his 90th birthday with staff and students who were at CSM during his tenure.

Bob Pine (Rock Mechanics and Director from 2002-2008), Sally Pine, Barry Wills (Mineral Processing), Barbara Wills, Carol Richards (CSM Associates Secretary 1996-1999), Peter Hackett, Nick Eastwood (ACSM 1974), Steve Pendray (Mineral Analysis), Lesley Atkinson (Geology and Museum Curator), Mary Shepherd (CSMA Secretary 1999-2005) and Pete Shepherd (ACSM 1967)

Our sincere condolences to Peter's family. The  funeral will be held at Camborne Crematorium at 3pm on Wednesday 9th October and will be followed by a Wake at The Old Quay House, Griggs Quay, Hayle, TR27 6JG. To help with planning and catering,  please contact cathie.clarke@gmail.com if you will be attending the funeral and/or the wake, no later than 1st October if possible. Peter made an express wish for family flowers only. If you would like to make a charitable donation, his favourite charity was the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI).  

I am sure that many of you will have memories of Peter, and I invite you to share them here. 

The IMPC is only 3 days away

Tomorrow I take the night sleeper to London, then on to Heathrow for the 8 hour flight to Washington D.C. for the XXXI IMPC- International Mineral Processing Congress, organised by the SME (Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration).

The IMPC's have a 2-year cycle, but due to Covid disruption next week's IMPC, at National Harbor, Maryland, will be the first since Moscow in 2018 and the first for me since 2016 in Quebec City. The Congress has the theme Mineral Processing for the Energy Transition, addressing how mineral processing is playing an increasingly important role in securing the cost-effective supply of a wide range of minerals for a sustainable and stable future.

Over 800 mineral processors are expected and I am looking forward to meeting as many as possible. MEI is a media partner and I will be publishing a report on the blog on October 14th, so do stop me to say hello and let me have your latest news. I will also be calling at the 23 exhibition booths to report on the latest developments in equipment and services.

It will be impossible for me to report on the papers in the technical sessions. Over 400 have been accepted for presentation, and these are in an array of parallel sessions, but I will report briefly on the plenary and keynote presentations.

It's not too late to register- it's not often that so many mineral processors get together- and there will be much to look forward to at the Congress, including the presentations of the prestigious awards of the International Mineral Processing Council.

#IMPC2024

Was scrapping the proposed coal mine in Cumbria the right decision?

Plans to build the UK's first deep coal mine in more than 30 years have been quashed. after two campaign groups brought legal action over the previous government's decision to grant planning permission for the site near Whitehaven in Cumbria. They claimed the government did not take into consideration the environmental impact of burning the coal extracted but lawyers for West Cumbria Mining said there had been "repeated mischaracterisation" of the plans and the development would have a "broadly neutral effect on the global release of greenhouse gas".

Source: Coal Action Network

Reacting to the High Court judgement, former Conservative MP for Workington, Mark Jenkinson, said the project would have created "well paid jobs" and "huge opportunities for the local supply chain, "If we don't mine coking coal here - which is required for our steel industry, among others, for the foreseeable future - then we import it from countries like Russia." He said that "there is nothing on the horizon" to replace coking coal in the process for making steel,

West Cumbria Mining planned to mine under the seabed to extract around 2.7m tonnes of metallurgical coal annually, solely for use within industry and not for power stations. Approval for the mine was given in December 2022 and although the coal would not be used for power generation critics say the mine would undermine climate targets and the demand for coking coal is declining. 

Supporters claimed that the mine would create jobs and reduce the need to import coal. However there is now a strong argument that there is no significant need for the coal in the UK as the blast furnaces in Port Talbot, Wales, have been shut down by the owners. Tata Steel, in favour of electric arc furnaces. These, however, will not produce 'virgin steel' from iron ore but will be used to melt and recycle scrap.

It may seem paradoxical, but mining of coal is essential in the quest for a zero-carbon society. Metallurgical coal, which would be mined in Cumbria, is required to produce steel, but it is rarely appreciated that fossil fuels, whether from coal or gas, will also be needed for some time yet, in order to help build the electric vehicles and wind turbines of the future. There just aren't enough renewable sources of energy at present to provide the energy to mine and extract the necessary raw materials and to manufacture the multitude of renewable energy devices and electric vehicles which are proposed. The most essential material is steel, the ubiquitous alloy used in construction. A single wind-turbine, for instance, requires well over 300 tonnes of steel, and to make steel we need metallurgical coal from which we produce coke for the iron blast furnaces.

Although environmental considerations are driving the introduction of new technologies, blast furnace related technologies for the production of pig-iron are still by far the most common methods for ironmaking and are predicted to be the single largest process until 2050. The blast furnace is reliant on a plentiful supply of coke, the hot air blast oxidising the coke to carbon monoxide, which reduces the iron ore, hematite, to pig-iron, containing around 4% carbon. Liquid pig-iron is then refined in oxygen converters, which reduce the carbon content to a value dependent on the use for the steel, 'mild steel', which is used for general engineering applications, having a carbon content of round 0.2%.

It is unlikely that technologies that do not use liquid pig iron will dominate in the coming decades, and ore, coal and limestone will remain the main raw materials used to make pig-iron. Existing technologies that produce liquid pig-iron outside the blast furnace are considerably inferior to blast furnace smelting with respect to productivity and integral total fuel consumption, which includes the fuel costs incurred to produce coke, agglomerated ore-bearing materials, hot blast air, and oxygen. The blast furnace process is also the leading technology in terms of the scale of production and has the lowest production costs. It remains the most effective thermal heat transfer reactor for ironmaking and metallurgical coal remains essential for iron and steelmaking. 

The transition to a low-carbon world does, however, require a transformation in the way iron and steel are produced and direct reduction of iron ore with hydrogen is perhaps the most promising. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe, and although it is present in its elemental form in stars, it is always found combined with other elements on earth, such that its production can be expensive. 

Hydrogen can be produced through several methods, each requiring energy to drive the chemical reaction to isolate hydrogen from, most commonly, water, coal, methane, or ammonia. Around 95% of hydrogen at present comes from fossil fuels, the remainder being the more attractive 'green hydrogen' which is produced by electrolysing water, which is expensive and requires a great deal of energy, preferably supplied by renewable sources. Green hydrogen can be used to 'store' energy, wind turbines, for instance, being used to electrolyse water when they are not needed for power generation, such as at night.

The green transition is not straightforward, and it is evident that fossil fuels will be needed for some time yet. So the question here is, was it the right decision to quash the Cumbrian coal mining application, given that the UK requirements for metallurgical coal have decreased? Or should we mine it, as it can be exported to countries which do need it, creating jobs in the process?