Inaugural University of Queensland Frank White Memorial Lecture

On 28 September, University of Queensland alumni, staff, industry partners, and friends gathered at the UQ St Lucia Campus to honour the legacy of the late Professor Frank T.M. White, a pivotal figure in mineral science and engineering. 

This inaugural event celebrated academia, innovation, and White's enduring impact, with attendees enjoying an engaging keynote lecture from Professor White’s son, Dr Franklin White. Author of “Miner with a Heart of Gold” (posting of 21 September 2020), Franklin grew up talking geology, mining, metallurgy, and educational development over the dining room table. During his medical and public health studies in Australia, Canada and the UK, he worked summers in industry-related posts, and has followed the field with a special interest in its historical development. Now an Adjunct Professor with Dalhousie University, he has held two endowed chairs, several senior operational posts, and for a recent 15-year period ran his own international consulting firm. He is recipient of a Breakthrough Award for Creativity from the Academy for Educational Development, and a Medal of Honor from the World Health Organization regional office for the Americas.

During the mid-20th century, mineral science and engineering educator Professor Frank T.M. White played an influential role in his field, respected for his knowledge, experience, and advocacy, including related issues such as its health, safety and social impacts. He looked at mining and metallurgy though a wider lens than was common during his time, embracing the need to promote diversity and sustainability. His son Franklin's address traced his contributions, from Australia’s goldfields, to the Fiji department of mines, to mining rehabilitation in post-War Malaya, then as Founding Professor of mining and metallurgical engineering at UQ. While he went on from UQ to rejuvenate mining engineering and applied geophysics at McGill University, it was at UQ where “his heart and soul” found greatest expression, especially the UQ Experimental Mine, which became the platform for JKMRC, and in his inspirational role in establishing International House. 

Dr. Franklin White (left) and his father Prof. Frank White

Applying his father's life as a framework, Franklin, a UQ alum, addressed the challenges of a first mover, issues of specialisation and the role of generalists, the essence of leadership, human development and environmental concerns, the stigma surrounding extractive industries, and the compelling need to respond. A video of the 40 minute lecture and ensuing discussion is available.

In the audience was Joe Pease, Principal Consultant for Mineralis, and a keynote speaker at MEI's Comminution '16, who said: 

"My thanks to all involved in arranging this event.  It is a long time since I have so thoroughly enjoyed a talk. I think any engineer would be engrossed by the topic and agree with the sentiments. We would only wish that we could compose a script so beautifully, deliver it so eloquently, and field difficult questions with such poise and grace…

Engineers will enjoy hearing this; but I think it is much more than that.  It portrays the role of engineering in society in a touching way that is accessible to, and acceptable to, wider society. These messages, delivered in this style, would enrich public discussion…

Please pass on my thanks to all involved in arranging this session.  I expected it would be good, but it far exceeded my expectations.   I will be thinking about it for a long time." 

New Book: The Engineering Science of Mineral Processing

I am pleased to announce a new book, which will be published in 2024, authored by the late Fernando Concha (posting of 11 August 2022) and Osvaldo A. Bascur (posting of 3 July 2017).

The Engineering Science of Mineral Processing: A Fundamental and Practical Approach emphasizes the fundamentals of mineral processing to provide readers with a deep understanding of the science and phenomena that occur during the processing of ores. It also offers guidance on contemporary process implementation through practical industry applications. It includes examples of dynamic simulations and practical execution of advanced software to guide operating plans to ensure optimal conditions that predict process constraints. The book:

• Focuses on the science of mineral processing, including particulate systems, hydrodynamics, and physical chemistry.

• Discusses modeling, rheology, comminution, classification, flotation, and solid-liquid separation.

• Includes practical examples from real-world industrial applications.

• Provides information on dynamic process simulations and the application of digital twins in mineral processing plants to improve management and efficiency

• Details the future of mineral processing in the digital era.

Offering a balance between fundamentals and applications, this book will be of interest to researchers and industry professionals working to optimise mining, mineral and chemical processing plants. It will also be of value to advanced students taking mineral processing and chemical engineering courses.

Reaction to Flotation '23

Flotation '23 finished last week in Cape Town. The biggest MEI Conference in our history, it validated our decision to move all our conferences for the foreseeable future to the wonderful Vineyard Hotel in the suburb of Claremont,

The  huge response to the conference on LinkedIn highlights the welcome return to face to face events after the pandemic and a selection of comments are shown below. We invite, and would greatly appreciate further comments on the event to this posting.

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A big thank you to MEI Conferences for the amazing dinner and entertainment offered at the gala event for Flotation 23. 

It was great to be able to get industry experts in a room over good food, great entertainment and some of the best wine Cape Town has to offer. A big thank you goes to our Stone Three team Annelette Coetzee and Lidia Auret for representing us with distinction. 

These conferences can be more than just sharing technology, process and academics but it is an opportunity to connect people from all over the world with shared interests allowing the daily barriers of borders to be broken down seamlessly.

Matt Lloyd, Stone Three, South Africa

Matt Lloyd with Lidia Auret and Annelette Coetzee

Flotation '23 was one of the best conferences I have ever participated in. I talked about application of AI and EAI in flotation during the conference and met most of my amazing friends and profs who are the leaders in the field. It was brilliant and quite educative like always. Thanks Barry, Amanda and Jon Wills 

Saeed Chelgani, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden

Saeed Chelgani (right)

Thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of Flotation 23!  Grateful for the global connections made during discussions about my research, enriched by invaluable feedback. Throughout this journey, meeting influential individuals like Graeme Jameson, Jim Finch and Barry Wills has added immense value. Special thanks to the exceptional efforts of Amanda Wills and Jon Wills in organizing this event. My sincere appreciation extends to sponsors, with a heartfelt acknowledgment to Ronel Kappes from Newmont Corporation, whose outstanding support proved instrumental. Stay tuned for the upcoming publication of my study in the special edition on Flotation 23 by Minerals Engineering next year!

Ali Rezvani, University of Queensland, Australia

Ali Rezvani

What an inspiring week at Flotation '23, wow! Many thanks to MEI for organizing this conference so well, to the more than 320 delegates for the innovative works shared with the community, and to our Freiberg/Dresden delegation for the fantastic research you presented here. I foresee so many fruitful collaborations arising for the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at HZDR from the discussions we had this week.

Lucas Pereira, HZDR, Germany

Lucas Pereira and Jim Finch

The past 4 days have been nothing short of amazing. I had the privilege of attending the 11th International Flotation Conference organised by MEI Conferences. I presented a poster of my MSc project which aims to identify conditions to improve fine particle flotation. This is particularly of interest to most mining companies as grinding to a finer size can reduce waste production and improve economic value. I received so much feedback and suggestions that I will incorporate in my thesis report. The discussions on improving flotation and the invention of different technologies, some incorporating AI was interesting and intriguing. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I had to connect with industry leaders and discussions about the future of Flotation.

Naledi Duma, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Naledi Duma

As we reach the final day of the Flotation '23 conference, I am happy to have been given the opportunity to present my research: “Correlating froth stability to froth recovery in a laboratory-scale flotation device”. The objective of my research is finding a quick and cost-effective way of evaluating flotation performance, one such way is froth stability. In my research I have observed a correlation between froth stability and metallurgical output as well as froth recovery, looking at Copper and nickel as valuables in a PGM ore. 

Thank you to MEI Conferences for the opportunity, I have learned a lot about flotation, novel upcoming and existing technologies to optimise the process, and learned a lot more beyond the scope of my work. I have also had the opportunity to network with researchers and professionals.

Noluthando Buthelezi, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Nolthando Buthelezi

We're proud of COE Minerals members for sharing the latest Centre research findings, scientific learnings and flotation technology application/innovation with 300 delegates, representing 32 countries at Flotation 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa this week. 

They also connected with internationally-based Centre Board and Panel members, industry representatives and academic collaborators including: Martin Rudolph, Kirsten Eckert, Lev Filippov and many more. It's been a great week, and wow - what a location! 

Centre researcher, PhD candidate Siân Parkes shared: "I learned loads, caught up with colleagues from Germany and Norway, and made lots of potential collaborators for future projects." 

ARC Centre of Excellence, University of Newcastle, Australia

Participating in Flotation '23 was an incredible experience for me and the Mintek team. We had the opportunity to meet some of our wonderful friends and professors who are leading experts in the field. The conference was enlightening and informative as always. Thanks Barry Wills, Amanda Wills and Jon Wills.

Mehdi Safari, Mintek, South Africa

Mehdi Safari (2nd left) with Mintek team

We would like to thank the organizers and participants of the MEI conference for making it a successful and enriching event. We are grateful for the opportunity to showcase our mineral processing services and solutions to the mining industry. We hope you enjoyed our presentations and demonstrations of our process innovation, metallurgical pilot plants, process engineering, metallurgical testwork, analytical services, and metallurgy on-site. We also appreciate your feedback and inquiries about our wide range of capabilities, and methods for different sample types and matrices. We are committed to providing high-quality, customer-oriented, and environmentally responsible mineral processing services and solutions to our clients. If you are interested in working with us or learning more about us, please visit our website or contact us via email or phone. We look forward to hearing from you and collaborating with you in the future. Thank you for your trust and support. 

Nesch Mintech Laboratory, Tanzania

With the Nesch Mintech team

What a gathering! With over 300 participants, 96 great talks, and multitudes of fascinating poster presentations from researchers and industry leaders across the globe, the insights and know-how are truly amazing.

I had the privilege to present findings from the RESTORE project which research exchange between Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at HZDR and Curtin University funded by DAAD German Academic Exchange Service. Tagging my wonderful research partner Marc Henderson and supervisors Prof Jacques Eksteen, Dr. Anna Vanderbruggen, and Dr. Martin Rudolph.  

Exciting news on the side – thrilled to share that we (Anna Vanderbruggen, Duong Hoang and Alvaro José Rodríguez Medina) won the Best Poster Award for 'Novel application of pneumatic flotation cell for efficient graphite recovery from black mass: advancing critical raw material recycling'. We are grateful for the recognition! Plus, I get to have a photo-op with the legends of mineral processing Dr. Barry Wills and Prof. Jim Finch. My 16-years old self who shifted to Metallurgy from Business degree won't ever believe this is gonna happen.

Finally, I want to acknowledge everyone who made this conference a success, especially to Amanda Wills, Jon Wills and Barry Wills!  Looking forward to continuing the momentum in the realm of flotation and sustainable practices. 

Aliza Salces, HZDR, Germany

Aliza Salces with Barry Wills and Jim Finch

Flotation '23 provided an incredible opportunity to learn, network, and connect with like-minded individuals.

Trudon Kalumba, Kamoto Copper Company, DRC

With Trudon Kalumba (left) and colleagues

A great week at Flotation '23! It was such a joy to see familiar faces and meet new ones over good food and fine wine at the beautiful Vineyard Hotel after 4 years. We may be a group of nerds, getting excited about discussions about surface chemistry and particle bubble attachment - I wouldn't change a thing about it! 

Highlights:

Getting the opportunity to chat to Jim Finch and Barry Wills.

The morning runs around Rondebosch, Newlands, and Claremont in the crisp morning air.
Natalie Shackleton - whose brilliance and knowledge promise me a wealth of learning in my chosen field.
Tortoises in breeding season
Pineapple Tabasco Tequila
Conference Dinner at GOLD restaurant

Process Mineralogy '24 and Critical Minerals '24 will return at the same time, same place next year.

Even more thrilled to be one of the sponsors for Flotation '25 as AECI Mining.

A big shout-out to MEI Conferences for creating such a stimulating environment! It has been a truly enriching experience and I left with my mind challenged, and heart full. 

Until next time, cheers! I hope to see you all in MEI Flotation '25. 

Shani Engelbrecht, AECI Mining, South Africa

With Shani Engelbrecht

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Flotation '23 conference in the beautiful city of Cape Town. It was an invaluable experience to present a part of my research to an experienced and esteemed international audience. This conference was not just a platform for sharing my research, but also a fantastic opportunity to learn about the latest developments in flotation from leading experts in the field.

I would like to express my thanks to MEI Conferences for their exemplary organization of Flotation '23. Special appreciation goes to the legend Barry Wills, Amanda Wills and Jon Wills for their assistance both before and during the conference, making Flotation '23 a smooth and successful experience. I also want to express my gratitude to my supervisor Pr.Rachid Benhida, for giving me the opportunity to attend this conference.

Meeting everyone at the conference was truly amazing. The knowledge and insights shared have been incredibly enriching, and I am already looking forward to Flotation '25 and the continued exchange of ideas.

Benmansour Mohammed Rida, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco

With Benmansour Mohammed Rida

I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate and present my research at the Flotation 23 conference. The experience has been incredibly enriching, providing valuable insights and networking opportunities with professionals in this field. Special thanks to my supervisors and also coauthors of this work, Susana Brito e Abreu and Elizaveta Forbes for their invaluable guidance and contribution. 

Lam Ian Ku, University of Queensland, Australia

Efficient flotation cells, smart reagents, and optimized kinetics showcased a transformative leap in mineral processing at the Flotation '23 Conference. The integration of AI and mastery in hydrodynamics unveiled a new era, redefining efficiency and sustainability. Join us as we chart the course into this revolutionary future!

MetSoP Pty Ltd, South Africa 

With the MetSoP team

An enormous thank you to MEI Conferences for the insightful experience at Flotation '23 in Cape Town last week. The technical presentations over the three days offered a wealth of knowledge that we readily absorbed and contributed to. We are looking forward to more such rich experiences in future conferences.

Conundrum, UK

Jon Wills with the Conundrum team

This week, the Paterson & Cooke team had the privilege of attending the Flotation 23 conference in Cape Town. It was an incredible opportunity to immerse ourselves in the latest advancements and insights in the field. 

The exchange of ideas and networking with industry leaders was a great experience. We are committed to staying at the forefront of innovation in flotation technology to better serve our clients and contribute to the growth of the industry. 

A big thank you to everyone involved in making this event a success!

Paterson & Cooke, South Africa

I’d like to thank MEI Conferences for such an incredible conference last week in Cape Town. I am so happy to have met wonderful new people and seen old friends again after years of online events. It was a fantastic experience to have participated as a speaker and chairperson. I enjoyed it so much! I look forward to the next conference Flotation '25

Paulina Vallejos, Santa Maria University, Chile

Amazing Flotation '23, the biggest ever!! Great exchange of ideas and learnings from the global research community and industry experts in our field of mineral processing. 

I also had the privilege to be the leader of the School of Chemical Engineering UQ delegation as we went out to showcase some amazing work and the impact of our research at UQ on such a world-class platform. 

Lastly, it was also a great opportunity for reunion and reconnecting with former colleagues from UCT (Kirsten Corin and Margreth Tadie). Forever appreciative of all the support in my journey.

Wonder Chimonyo, University of Queensland, Australia

Wonder Chimonyo

A prestigious event to stay at the forefront of industry trends, learn from thought leaders and foster valuable connections. Congratulations to MEI and the sponsors, including Maelgwyn Mineral Services Ltd as well as Maelgwyn's presenters Duong Hoang and Ahmad Hassanzadeh

Maelgwyn Mineral Services Africa

Maelgwyn Mineral Services

Some reflections on a very dynamic week at the Flotation'23 conference, hosted at the picturesque Vineyard Hotel. We were pleased to stand side by side with our valued partner, Nalco Water, An Ecolab Company, represented by Steven Paulson, Chris Greulich, Matshidiso Rakuba and Ngoni Mhonde - their expertise and commitment to excellence shone brightly at the conference, leaving a valuable mark on the discussions. 

Nalco's stand was a testament to our collaborative efforts in advancing flotation technology, with Matt Lloyd representing Stone Three. Kudos to Annelette Coetzee, whose insightful presentation contributed to the knowledge pool, and Lidia Auret, who also attended and actively engaged in the discussions. The conference provided a platform for meaningful conversations and industry insights. 

A heartfelt thank you to MEI Conferences for hosting this gathering of minds. Let's continue pushing the boundaries and driving progress in mineral processing together!

Stone Three, South Africa

Last week, I had the privilege and opportunity of attending Flotation '23 to showcase my MSc research work. I met a lot of great minds and legends of the field such Barry Wills and Jim Finch.

It was beautiful to see a group of brilliant minds and experts excited about sharing knowledge and insights about everything flotation; from pulp chemistry fundamentals, surface chemistry, bubble-particle attachment, froth stability, AI in mineral processing, etc. 

The knowledge and insights shared was enriching and fascinating.

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Kirsten Corin and Dr Malibongwe Manono for affording me the opportunity to attend this prestigious conference.

MEI Conferences, Amanda Wills and Jon Wills this was arguably the best conference I have ever attended, thank you for having me.

Mahlogonolo Nkadimeng, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Mahlogonolo Nkadimeng (2nd left)

#Flotation23

A long post-conference weekend in the Cape

After a wonderful week at the Vineyard Hotel with Flotation '23 delegates it was nice to relax for a few days in the Cape Peninsula before the long trips home.

On Saturday Amanda and Jon spent a few hours in Camps Bay, Cape Town's most famous beach, where they had lunch with Pablo Brito-Parada, from Imperial College, UK. Pablo is now associated with MEI, having taken over from me as Editor-in-Chief of Minerals Engineering last year. He will now be busy assessing the papers from Flotation '23 for the special conference issue.

Jon returned home to Luxembourg on Saturday evening, while Amanda stayed on and spent a few days at Muizenberg. Barbara and I stayed for a week further down the False Bay coast at Fish Hoek, once regarded as having the most dangerous beach in the world, due to the number of fatal white shark attacks, but now guarded by shark nets.

Shark protection at Fish Hoek

On Saturday Barbara and I walked the five and a half mile walk from Fish Hoek to Simon's Town, South Africa's largest naval base. 

After a superb lunch at the Lighthouse Cafe we returned by Uber, definitely our recommendation for safe and easy travel around Cape Town.

By Simon's Town harbour

On Sunday Amanda walked from Muizenberg and Barbara and I from Fish Hoek, to meet up for lunch in the fishing village of Kalk Bay. The renowned fish restaurant the Harbour House is an ever popular evening visit for delegates from the Vineyard, only about 25 minutes away by road.

Kalk Bay Harbour

Lunch at the Harbour House

The Winelands! To most people this means the many vineyards in the Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl districts, but just a 15 minute drive from the Vineyard Hotel, on the other side of the mountain, is the fertile Constantia Valley, home to South Africa's oldest wine estates. 

Steenberg is the oldest registered wine farm in South Africa and Barbara and I met Amanda there on Monday for a wonderful lunch in the Bistro Sixteen82 restaurant,  named after the year in which Steenberg was established. There can be few better restaurants than this in the world, a fitting end to our long weekend in the beautiful Cape.

The Steenberg estate in the Constantia Valley

Thursday at Flotation '23

Thursday November 9th

The final day of the conference began with a keynote presentation from Diana Drinkwater, of Metcelerate Australia. 

Metcelerate, sponsoring an MEI Conference for the first time, provides training solutions to build technical competence in the mineral processing workplace for metallurgists and engineers and recently won the annual IChemE 2022 Global Award for Business Start-Up companies. Metcelerate is represented by Katja Freitag, the General Manager from Canada and Jenny Weise, Program Manager from Cape Town and CEO Diana Drinkwater. In the photo below Jenny, Diana and Katja were talking to Damien Krebs of Primero, Australia and Stuart Saich of Promet101 Consulting, Chile.  Promet101 is a sponsor of the conference and have agreed to sponsor Flotation '25, Process Mineralogy '24 and Critical Minerals '24.  Metcelerate has also signed up to sponsor Flotation '25.

Considering that this is the final day of a 4-day conference there was still much activity in the exhibition and poster areas.

Nouryon, formerly known as AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, is an independent global specialty chemicals leader and Juhani Wallenius was talking to Sian Parkes, University of Newcastle, Australia, and Hifsa Pervez and Benedikt Tiedeman, of Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany.  

Regular sponsor Clariant has a strong team of seven, five from Brazil and one each from South Africa and Germany. Clariant is one of the world’s leading specialty chemical companies, providing a wide range of flotation collectors for specific duties such as the flotation of industrial minerals, iron ore, and molybdenite. Due to difficulties with storage, handling and disposal of xanthate collectors, sulfide mining companies are facing increasingly difficult xanthate logistics challenges. Through collaboration with customers, Clariant has developed alternatives with high copper flotation performance and safer handling and disposal solution for mines, lowering capital expenditure and providing a longer shelf life than solid xanthate. The Clariant xanthate replacement collectors allow operators to discontinue the use of sodium isopropyl xanthate and potassium amyl xanthate.

Passing the Akkim Kimya booth I saw Belma Sonmez and Burak Cinar Arzuoglu talking to Li Ling, of BGRIMM, China.

Akkim Kimya, the leading chemicals producer of Turkey, was established in Yalova in 1977. Conducting manufacturing operations at 5 different locations with over 1000 employees, Akkim has a special place in the chemicals industry with its diversity of products. Akkim is a chemicals company that has been serving over 70 countries in six continents with its wide range of products, including chlor-alkali and derivatives, peroxides, methylamines, persulfates, bisulphites, textile auxiliaries, paper, water treatment chemicals, construction chemicals and plastic additives. Akkim Kimya acquired USK Kimya, one of the largest carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) producers in Turkey and the world in 2021. 

Prior to the lunch break Amanda and I caught up with the six delegates from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

It was also good to see the delegates from the University of Queensland, who have presented a number of papers this week.

With the UQ Chemical Engineers.......

....and UQ's JKMRC delegates

Also great to see a large contingent from Vale, Brazil.

Things are looking really good for Flotation '25 with four more current sponsors signing up this afternoon, Gold Ore, Nesch Mintech Tanzania, Solvay and Metsop.

Amanda with Adrian Singh of Gold Ore

Jon with Prosper Munemo and Happiness Nesvinga of Nesch Mintech

With Tarun Bhambhani and Rex Mumbi of Solvay 

Jon shakes on agreement with Metsop's Marcus Manyumwa

All too soon the conference came to an end with 22 presentations today. MEI's consultant Jim Finch summarised the event, noting the increasing number of young people, particularly young women, now involved in flotation. Appropriately he presented a signed copy of the 8th edition of Mineral Processing Technology, edited by me and Jim, to Aliza Marie Salces, of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden, Germany, for the best student poster at the conference, "Novel application of pneumatic flotation cell for efficient graphite recovery from black mass: advancing critical raw material recycling". Thanks to Jim and his wife Lois for judging the many posters.

MEI's Amanda Wills then closed the conference, inviting everyone back to the Vineyard for Flotation '25, from November 17th-20th, 2025, after which we enjoyed a final sundowner in the evening sunshine.

With Yoshiuki Tanaka and Tatsuru Takahashi from the
Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security

A welcome guest, Megan Becker (left), MEI Consultant to Process Mineralogy '24

With Antonio Peres, of UFMG, Brazil, who has attended more MEI Conferences than anyone

All the photos on the blog postings, and more, are in a Flotation '23 Album. Please feel free to download photos for your personal use. If you would like to use any photos on a company website, please acknowledge the source (MEI).

Finally, we would really appreciate your comments on the conference, which will aid us in the organisation of future events. Thanks to all of you for making this such a special event!