836 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Problems with providing mineral processing and extractive
metallurgy (MP/EM) technical support for operations have
seen much discussion inside the mined natural resources
community. Furor around critical minerals and metals
to support an energy transition has brought the problem
to a broader audience. Only time will tell what decisive
responses are taken to help ameliorate the problem. Lacking
significant responses, the issue will only grow.
Competencies are comprised of knowledge, skills and
motivations. Competency development requires approaches
for addressing all three—knowledge transfer, skills develop-
ment and supporting and encouraging motivation. Starting
with the Essential Functions that must be routinely com-
pleted, it is possible to identify the knowledge and skills
required to competently perform tasks. These may subse-
quently be grouped and the competencies specified. In the
case of processing plants, this leads us to: 24 X 7 Process
Management and Problem Solving.
The lack of definition of the competencies required to
support operations hinders solution development.
Some Engineering Disciplines have developed BoKs
(bodies of knowledge) to guide professional awareness of
competency expectations and associated details, that is,
the level of knowledge and skill required for different roles
(operations, EPCM/OEM, academia) at different career
points (for example, AIChE, 2015). This is not available
for Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy.
Professional formation and development must be
self-managed through a lifetime. This includes elements
of knowledge transfer, skills development and motiva-
tion. Individuals start as Novices and then develop into
Experienced Practitioners. Some people may pursue exper-
tise (mastery) of some of the competencies.
There are many paths to developing competencies.
For example, Internal company programs, Self-Study and
External programs such as Metcelerate. Most programs
focus entirely on knowledge transfer and fail to include
skills development or to address individual motivation. A
primary determinant of competency development seems to
be self-motivation. Each person should plan for their own
lifelong development and engage with their company, their
peers, etc. for guidance and support.
The processing plant must be able to access competent
(capable) people at appropriate level to support process
management and problem solving. It is not necessary that
people with all defined competencies are always working at
the processing plant. Competencies required on a frequent
(e.g., daily) basis need to be held by site-based engineers.
Competencies required on a less-frequent basis (e.g., quar-
terly, annually, or for large projects) may be accessed from
outside the site, e.g., corporate engineers or external con-
sultants. It is not expected that any one individual will have
all the competencies at expert level.
REFERENCES
Abenov, T., Franklin-Hensley, M., Grabbart, T., and
Larrat, T., 2023 Has mining lost its luster? Why talent is
moving elsewhere and how to bring them back, https://
www.mckinsey.com/industries/metals-and-mining
/our-insights/has-mining-lost-its-luster-why-talent-is
-moving-elsewhere-and-how-to-bring-them-back.
AIChE, 2015 Body of Knowledge for Chemical Engineers,
Release 1.0.
Cilliers, J.J., Drinkwater, D., and Seitz, R.A., 2023
Transforming graduate metallurgists into effective
process engineers, World Mining Congress, Brisbane,
Australia, 2023.
Drinkwater, D., Editor, 2016 Minerals Industry: Education
and Training. A roadmap for mineral processing educa-
tion, Papers from the Special Symposium on Education:
Mineral Processing for the Future, IMPC 2016).
Drinkwater, D., Cilliers, J., Seitz, R., Kuyvenhoven, R.,
2022 Workplace-based technical coaching of young
professionals to enhance plant performance, Procemin-
GEOMET 2022, 2022.
McCaffrey, K., Giblett, A., and Dunne, R., 2014 Sustaining
metallurgical competencies, IMPC 2014.
McGaghie, W.C., Wayne, D.B., Barsuk, J.H., and
Issenberg, S.B., 2021 Deliberate practice and mas-
tery learning contributions to medical education and
improved healthcare, Journal of Expertise, Vol. 4(2),
144–168.
Michaelson, S.D., Lagergren, M.A., and Speers, E.C., 4.
Staff Functions, Section 35. Organization and Safety,
SME Mineral Processing Handbook, Ed. N.L. Weiss,
SME, 1985, 35–14 to 35–15.
Munro, P.D., 2017 Back to the future—still on the dark
side, We Are Metallurgists, Not Magicians: Landmark
Papers by Practicing Metallurgists, Eds. D. Pollard, G.
Dunlop, and J. Herzig, AusIMM, AusIMM, 19–26.
Ranade, SM, 2008 Competency framework for refinery
process engineers, Hydrocarbon Processing, July,.
Read, T.T., 1941 The Development of Mineral Industry
Education in The United States, AIME.
Seitz, R.A., 2014 Developing mineral processing engineers
at FCX, Colorado Section SME, presentation.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Problems with providing mineral processing and extractive
metallurgy (MP/EM) technical support for operations have
seen much discussion inside the mined natural resources
community. Furor around critical minerals and metals
to support an energy transition has brought the problem
to a broader audience. Only time will tell what decisive
responses are taken to help ameliorate the problem. Lacking
significant responses, the issue will only grow.
Competencies are comprised of knowledge, skills and
motivations. Competency development requires approaches
for addressing all three—knowledge transfer, skills develop-
ment and supporting and encouraging motivation. Starting
with the Essential Functions that must be routinely com-
pleted, it is possible to identify the knowledge and skills
required to competently perform tasks. These may subse-
quently be grouped and the competencies specified. In the
case of processing plants, this leads us to: 24 X 7 Process
Management and Problem Solving.
The lack of definition of the competencies required to
support operations hinders solution development.
Some Engineering Disciplines have developed BoKs
(bodies of knowledge) to guide professional awareness of
competency expectations and associated details, that is,
the level of knowledge and skill required for different roles
(operations, EPCM/OEM, academia) at different career
points (for example, AIChE, 2015). This is not available
for Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy.
Professional formation and development must be
self-managed through a lifetime. This includes elements
of knowledge transfer, skills development and motiva-
tion. Individuals start as Novices and then develop into
Experienced Practitioners. Some people may pursue exper-
tise (mastery) of some of the competencies.
There are many paths to developing competencies.
For example, Internal company programs, Self-Study and
External programs such as Metcelerate. Most programs
focus entirely on knowledge transfer and fail to include
skills development or to address individual motivation. A
primary determinant of competency development seems to
be self-motivation. Each person should plan for their own
lifelong development and engage with their company, their
peers, etc. for guidance and support.
The processing plant must be able to access competent
(capable) people at appropriate level to support process
management and problem solving. It is not necessary that
people with all defined competencies are always working at
the processing plant. Competencies required on a frequent
(e.g., daily) basis need to be held by site-based engineers.
Competencies required on a less-frequent basis (e.g., quar-
terly, annually, or for large projects) may be accessed from
outside the site, e.g., corporate engineers or external con-
sultants. It is not expected that any one individual will have
all the competencies at expert level.
REFERENCES
Abenov, T., Franklin-Hensley, M., Grabbart, T., and
Larrat, T., 2023 Has mining lost its luster? Why talent is
moving elsewhere and how to bring them back, https://
www.mckinsey.com/industries/metals-and-mining
/our-insights/has-mining-lost-its-luster-why-talent-is
-moving-elsewhere-and-how-to-bring-them-back.
AIChE, 2015 Body of Knowledge for Chemical Engineers,
Release 1.0.
Cilliers, J.J., Drinkwater, D., and Seitz, R.A., 2023
Transforming graduate metallurgists into effective
process engineers, World Mining Congress, Brisbane,
Australia, 2023.
Drinkwater, D., Editor, 2016 Minerals Industry: Education
and Training. A roadmap for mineral processing educa-
tion, Papers from the Special Symposium on Education:
Mineral Processing for the Future, IMPC 2016).
Drinkwater, D., Cilliers, J., Seitz, R., Kuyvenhoven, R.,
2022 Workplace-based technical coaching of young
professionals to enhance plant performance, Procemin-
GEOMET 2022, 2022.
McCaffrey, K., Giblett, A., and Dunne, R., 2014 Sustaining
metallurgical competencies, IMPC 2014.
McGaghie, W.C., Wayne, D.B., Barsuk, J.H., and
Issenberg, S.B., 2021 Deliberate practice and mas-
tery learning contributions to medical education and
improved healthcare, Journal of Expertise, Vol. 4(2),
144–168.
Michaelson, S.D., Lagergren, M.A., and Speers, E.C., 4.
Staff Functions, Section 35. Organization and Safety,
SME Mineral Processing Handbook, Ed. N.L. Weiss,
SME, 1985, 35–14 to 35–15.
Munro, P.D., 2017 Back to the future—still on the dark
side, We Are Metallurgists, Not Magicians: Landmark
Papers by Practicing Metallurgists, Eds. D. Pollard, G.
Dunlop, and J. Herzig, AusIMM, AusIMM, 19–26.
Ranade, SM, 2008 Competency framework for refinery
process engineers, Hydrocarbon Processing, July,.
Read, T.T., 1941 The Development of Mineral Industry
Education in The United States, AIME.
Seitz, R.A., 2014 Developing mineral processing engineers
at FCX, Colorado Section SME, presentation.