Last week GSL attended this year’s excellent MEI Conference, Process Mineralogy 17, in Cape Town which saw attendance from 97 delegates from 21 countries. Cornwall was well represented by 10 Camborne School of Mines lecturers, past lectures and graduates, and in all 12 members or affiliates of the Cornish Mining Alliance.
Interesting keynote lectures from Eric Pirard, Steve Williams and Jan Miller discussed the diverse range of applications for process mineralogy, the mine that needs no process mineralogy and the next steps in 3D mineralogy. The keynote lectures gave a good overview of the other papers and covered exploration through to mine waste rehabilitation and the equipment available to perform these tasks. This is a growing and innovative area in the mining industry which is becoming accepted and standard practice for the forward-thinking operators. Process mineralogy is being supported by fast growing developments from the instrument manufacturers enabling for faster and more informative results for the end users. The conference also saw the launch of the 2nd edition of the well renowned text book Process Mineralogy.
Representatives from conference sponsor Cornwall Mining Alliance. Photo courtesy of Barry Wills, MEI
