David Robertson Smelting Symposium
'Celebrating the Mega-scale'
In conjunction with the TMS 2014 Annual Meeting
San Diego, California, USA, 16-20 February 2014
Course title: Sustainability and Mineral Resources
Presenter: Dr W John Rankin (Consultant, Melbourne, Australia)
The course will examine the development of the concept of sustainability, particularly its environmental aspects, and how the minerals industry is responding to the challenges posed by sustainability. The types and quantities of wastes produced during the mining and processing of minerals will be examined and the modern approaches for managing these wastes will be reviewed. Mining and processing are energy intensive and the usage of energy in the industry will be examined. Strategies for reducing, and ultimately, eliminating wastes produced during mining and processing will be examined and examples of recent developments will be discussed. Finally, how the industry can capture the opportunities presented as well as contributing positively to the transition to sustainability will be discussed.
Who should attend:
· Mining and processing professionals who want a deeper understanding of the concept of sustainability and its implications for finite resources
Participants will gain a greater appreciation of the nature of sustainability, its implications for the minerals industry and the opportunities and challenges for the industry during the transition to sustainability.
1. An introduction to the concept of sustainability
2. The mineral industry’s response to sustainability
3. Mining and processing wastes
4. Use of energy in primary production
5. Towards zero waste in primary production
6. Towards sustainability
John Rankin – BiographyJohn Rankin is a metallurgist by background with a BSc and PhD from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has worked mainly in academia and research organisations and has an extensive knowledge of the minerals industry. He has lectured in metallurgy and chemical engineering at the University of Stellenbosh (South Africa) and the University of Waterloo (Canada) and has worked for Mintek in South Africa, Comalco Limited, and CSIRO (Australia's national research organisation). He was Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne for five years and Foundation Director of the G K Williams Cooperative Research Centre for Extractive Metallurgy. Until 2008 he was Chief Scientist of the CSIRO Division of Minerals. He is the author of over 150 papers. John has had an active research interest in sustainability and its implications for non-finite resources for over ten years and has published extensively in this field. He authored the book Minerals, Metals and Sustainability: Meeting future material needs (2011), on which some of the content of this short course is based. He chaired the Green Processing 2002 and 2004 conferences of the AusIMM and recently edited the two-volume publication Australasian Mining and Metallurgical Operating Practices, published by the AusIMM.