xix
Foreword
XXXI IMPC 2024 Proceedings
July 24, 2024
“The rapidly growing demand for metals during the past century has resulted in an increased rate of production and a
consequent depletion of the richer ore reserves, and this has intensified interest in the use and development of methods of
mineral concentration.” No, this was not written specifically to open the foreword to the XXXI IMPC 2024 proceedings
(electronic) publication. It was written 72 years ago by Professor C.W. Dannatt in his introduction to the proceedings of
what was to become the first in the series of International Mineral Processing Congresses. However, we could open with
exactly the same sentence in the foreword to the XXXI IMPC proceedings. The 1952 IMPC was convened at the Imperial
College of Science and Technology, London, and included 40 technical papers presented by a veritable who’s who of min-
eral processing specialists of the day: Antoine Gaudin, Fred Bond, John Dorr, Francis Bosqui, Nat Arbiter, and E. J. Pryor
to name just a few.
The next five Congresses were held on European soil before the USA hosted the VII IMPC in New York in 1964.
Locations subsequently became more exotic—Leningrad, Sao Paulo, and Sydney to name just a few— before returning to
the USA for XIX IMPC 1995 in San Francisco. Since 1995, there have been Congresses in Aachen, Rome, Cape Town,
Istanbul, Beijing, Brisbane, New Delhi, Santiago, Quebec City, Moscow enticing delegates from all over the world to these
wonderful locations. Today, the IMPC brings together the mineral processing community from around the world, includ-
ing specialists from academia, research organizations and institutions, mining and metals companies, government agencies,
and non-profit entities and institutions, with the common goal of advancing the understanding and practices of mineral
processing.
The theme of the XXXI IMPC 2024 is Mineral Processing for the Energy Transition. Global energy systems are in the
midst of a revolutionary transformation that has gained traction over the past fifteen years and looks set to continue over
the next few decades. This transition has three main components
1. Electric drive transportation systems which reap the benefits of high efficiency electric motors,
2. Non-conventional forms of electricity production (sometimes referred to as “renewable energy”), which can pro-
vide opportunities for lower carbon emissions and reduced reliance on fossil fuels,
3. Battery technology developments for use in electric transportation systems and grid scale electricity storage to
enable components of non-conventional electricity generation.
A key driver, if not THE key driver, for the above energy transition components is cost effectiveness, or specifically cost
competitiveness against incumbent energy systems. Technologies that are not cost competitive will not survive or thrive.
Reliance on political motivations, whether these be regulations, policies, or cost incentives will be unlikely to provide a
sustainable basis for any such transition in the long term.
All three components of the energy transition listed above require significantly increased production for a range of
metals and minerals, including copper, aluminum, iron/steel, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, silver, graphite, silicon,
gallium, indium, and rare earth elements. To meet the needs of the energy transition, the mineral processing community
must not only provide increased volumes of production, but must do this while continuously improving efficiency to ensure
that the emerging energy systems with all of their actual and perceived advantages can maintain (and enhance) their com-
petitiveness against more traditional “disadvantaged” energy systems. As mineral processing engineers, scientists and practi-
tioners, the best that we can offer the world today is a secure, robust supply of metals and minerals at competitive process,
produced in an ethical and environmentally-responsible manner. It is a mission we accept with optimism and enthusiasm.
Foreword
XXXI IMPC 2024 Proceedings
July 24, 2024
“The rapidly growing demand for metals during the past century has resulted in an increased rate of production and a
consequent depletion of the richer ore reserves, and this has intensified interest in the use and development of methods of
mineral concentration.” No, this was not written specifically to open the foreword to the XXXI IMPC 2024 proceedings
(electronic) publication. It was written 72 years ago by Professor C.W. Dannatt in his introduction to the proceedings of
what was to become the first in the series of International Mineral Processing Congresses. However, we could open with
exactly the same sentence in the foreword to the XXXI IMPC proceedings. The 1952 IMPC was convened at the Imperial
College of Science and Technology, London, and included 40 technical papers presented by a veritable who’s who of min-
eral processing specialists of the day: Antoine Gaudin, Fred Bond, John Dorr, Francis Bosqui, Nat Arbiter, and E. J. Pryor
to name just a few.
The next five Congresses were held on European soil before the USA hosted the VII IMPC in New York in 1964.
Locations subsequently became more exotic—Leningrad, Sao Paulo, and Sydney to name just a few— before returning to
the USA for XIX IMPC 1995 in San Francisco. Since 1995, there have been Congresses in Aachen, Rome, Cape Town,
Istanbul, Beijing, Brisbane, New Delhi, Santiago, Quebec City, Moscow enticing delegates from all over the world to these
wonderful locations. Today, the IMPC brings together the mineral processing community from around the world, includ-
ing specialists from academia, research organizations and institutions, mining and metals companies, government agencies,
and non-profit entities and institutions, with the common goal of advancing the understanding and practices of mineral
processing.
The theme of the XXXI IMPC 2024 is Mineral Processing for the Energy Transition. Global energy systems are in the
midst of a revolutionary transformation that has gained traction over the past fifteen years and looks set to continue over
the next few decades. This transition has three main components
1. Electric drive transportation systems which reap the benefits of high efficiency electric motors,
2. Non-conventional forms of electricity production (sometimes referred to as “renewable energy”), which can pro-
vide opportunities for lower carbon emissions and reduced reliance on fossil fuels,
3. Battery technology developments for use in electric transportation systems and grid scale electricity storage to
enable components of non-conventional electricity generation.
A key driver, if not THE key driver, for the above energy transition components is cost effectiveness, or specifically cost
competitiveness against incumbent energy systems. Technologies that are not cost competitive will not survive or thrive.
Reliance on political motivations, whether these be regulations, policies, or cost incentives will be unlikely to provide a
sustainable basis for any such transition in the long term.
All three components of the energy transition listed above require significantly increased production for a range of
metals and minerals, including copper, aluminum, iron/steel, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, silver, graphite, silicon,
gallium, indium, and rare earth elements. To meet the needs of the energy transition, the mineral processing community
must not only provide increased volumes of production, but must do this while continuously improving efficiency to ensure
that the emerging energy systems with all of their actual and perceived advantages can maintain (and enhance) their com-
petitiveness against more traditional “disadvantaged” energy systems. As mineral processing engineers, scientists and practi-
tioners, the best that we can offer the world today is a secure, robust supply of metals and minerals at competitive process,
produced in an ethical and environmentally-responsible manner. It is a mission we accept with optimism and enthusiasm.