Mike O'Driscoll

About Mike O'Driscoll

Mike has over 30 years experience in the international mining and minerals industry, specialising in industrial minerals and markets, for which he is widely recognised as a leading expert. After serving 26 years at Industrial Minerals (IM) magazine – 17 years as Editor – Mike left IM in 2014 to pursue an independent career in the industrial minerals business, and launched IMFORMED in January 2015 with Ismene Clarke. Read more >

2026: Let IMFORMED bring the mineral markets together for you this year

RECYCLING | MAGNESIA | FLUORINE | SALT As IMFORMED enters its twelfth year of business (Already?!? What happened?!?), Mike and Maria would like to thank all our customers, sponsors, supporters, friends, and families for their unstinting support during 2025. The year was a particularly tough and uniquely unusual one, having begun it with heavy hearts [...]

By |2026-01-09T08:14:56+00:00Thursday, 8 January, 2026|Newsfile|0 Comments

Superb Salt Forum 2025 in Abu Dhabi

IMFORMED’s Salt Forum 2025 took place in the Abu Dhabi InterContinental last week attracting 100 attendees from 34 countries, active in all stages of salt supply and demand. A wide range of key topics were presented by world experts over a day and half, with plenty of time for the all-important networking. A convivial [...]

By |2026-01-08T08:01:29+00:00Monday, 24 November, 2025|Newsfile|1 Comment

Fantastico Fluorine Forum 2025

Fluorine Forum 2025 took place 3 weeks ago at Baveno, Lake Maggiore, Italy. What an event! Whether learning about increased Chinese fluorspar capacity, FSA developments in Morocco and Italy, latest LiPF6 and semiconductor market trends – there was something for everyone in this spectacular setting with a record attendance of over 200 attendees. A message [...]

By |2025-11-24T17:51:10+00:00Tuesday, 11 November, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Fantastico Fluorine Forum 2025

IMFORMED at UNITECR 2025, Cancun

IMFORMED has just spent the week at the superb UNITECR 2025 in Cancun, where the global refractories community met for four days of networking, exhibits, and presentations. A wide range of refractory industry topics were under discussion including raw materials and recycling, very close to IMFORMED's heart. In addition to IMFORMED as media partner, Mike [...]

By |2025-10-31T16:08:46+00:00Friday, 31 October, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on IMFORMED at UNITECR 2025, Cancun

Andalusite from Peru to the world

In the far north of Peru, more than 1,000km north of Lima, in the arid countryside near the port city of Paita, in Paita Province, lies an alluvial deposit of andalusite that is the world’s fourth largest producer, and one of the few independent suppliers, of the aluminosilicate refractory mineral. In December 2024, following the [...]

By |2025-10-22T06:21:22+00:00Wednesday, 22 October, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Andalusite from Peru to the world

Fluorspar future source potential reviewed

Anyone scanning the fluorspar supply sector right now cannot have ignored the uptick in activity and attention to mine development projects for this specialist industrial mineral. Fluorspar has recently garnered increased attention owing to it’s perceived “criticality” in Li-ion battery and semiconductor manufacture, and remains an important mainstay ingredient for production of steel, aluminium, fluorochemicals, [...]

By |2025-09-11T16:46:12+00:00Thursday, 11 September, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Fluorspar future source potential reviewed

Industrial minerals evergreen fountain of knowledge keeps on rockin’!

Representing some 90 years of experience Can you spot who’s who in a recent reunion of Industrial Minerals magazine “Old Guard” in a London watering hole? Brian Coope 1970-1983 (1977-1983 Editor) Gerry Clarke 1978-1989 (1983-1987 Editor) Ted Dickson 1976-1987 (1982-1987 American Editor) Joyce Griffiths 1985-1998 (1988-1995 Editor) Mike O’Driscoll 1987-1990, 1991-2014 (1995-2012 Editor) Alison Saxby [...]

By |2025-09-11T08:56:20+00:00Thursday, 11 September, 2025|Newsfile|2 Comments

ANNOUNCING FORUMS FOR 2026: Mineral Recycling | MagForum

SAVE THE DATES | CALL FOR PAPERS | SPONSOR/EXHIBIT OPTIONS IMFORMED is delighted to announce its first two conferences for 2026 (please click on logos for full details): The latest trends and developments in recycling industrial minerals from a range of waste sources, including Refractories | Slags | Salts | Ash | Glass | Batteries [...]

By |2025-08-18T11:42:41+00:00Monday, 18 August, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on ANNOUNCING FORUMS FOR 2026: Mineral Recycling | MagForum

ICR 2025 Early Bird Extension | Programme Online

Preparations are in full swing for the 67th International Colloquium on Refractories (ICR) taking place at the Eurogress, Aachen on 17 and 18 September 2025. As Media Partner, IMFORMED is delighted to share the latest news on this keenly awaited event, and will be participating at the exhibition – please drop by our stand for chat, [...]

By |2025-07-29T12:10:27+00:00Tuesday, 29 July, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on ICR 2025 Early Bird Extension | Programme Online

UNITECR 2025: Last chance Early Bird | Keynote Speaker announced

As one of the Media Partners for UNITECR 2025, (the Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories), the foremost biennial event for the global refractories industry, IMFORMED is delighted to share the latest updates from the UNITECR organising committee. Save up to 40% on your participation UNITECR 2025 has announced that its Early Bird pricing has [...]

By |2025-07-29T09:06:41+00:00Tuesday, 29 July, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on UNITECR 2025: Last chance Early Bird | Keynote Speaker announced