Applying Integrated Process Knowledge to viable recovery of complex orebodies

Malcolm has applied fundamental comminution research to design and process improvement on over 60 mines worldwide, during 30 years at Mintek, UCT, and the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre.  His work is published in over 200 papers.  Malcolm collaborates extensively, with close compatriots on 5 continents forming the Global Comminution Collaborative. Malcolm’s research vision is of integrated total process simulation as a tool for innovation – linking geology, mining, energy and size reduction, gangue rejection and recovery into flexible process design and process optimisation.

This seminar is a rerun of the keynote presentation that Malcolm gave at the recent Complex Orebodies Conference. The presentation is linked to the risk factors preventing the utilisation of 75% of the world's large known copper resources.  A picture will be painted of how being able to link the processing route to the knowledge of primary rock properties can enable modelling, and therefore risk reduction and potential acceptance by the industry, of dramatically different approaches to the mining process.  Linking technical understanding to mapping routes that can dramatically change social benefit, environmental impact, water and energy usage, tailing and waste management, and long-term society benefit from mineral resources.