Mike O'Driscoll

Oilfield Minerals & Markets Forum Houston 2019, 10-12 June Just a brief note to say a big thank you to all our sponsors, speakers, and delegates for supporting and participating in such a successful and enjoyable Oilfield Minerals & Markets Forum Houston 2019 last week (10-12 June, at the Hilton Post Oak). The meeting had a real [...]

MagForum 2019 Review - a market in transition? A sunny Bilbao beckoned the leading lights of the world magnesia market to gather and discuss the industry’s latest trends and developments at IMFORMED’s MagForum 2019, at the Occidental Bilbao during 13-15 May 2019. Over 200 attendees from across the magnesia minerals supply chain enjoyed the sumptuous [...]

Review of IMFORMED Rendezvous, 8-9 April 2019, Paris You can’t beat Paris in the Springtime, and you would be hard pushed to beat a more enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd discussing the future and fundamentals of the industrial minerals business in Paris last month. The inaugural IMFORMED Rendezvous held at Les Jardins du Marais, 8-10 April, [...]

Silo loading a Halliburton truck with drilling grade barite at Cimbar’s recently opened plant at Marietta, Ohio Courtesy CIMBAR CIMBAR Performance Minerals Inc. has recently opened a new barite operation in Marietta, Ohio, serving the north-east regional oilfield market. The new plant’s main product is API Drilling Grade Barite with a production capacity [...]

Just a quick note to say a big thank you to all our sponsors, speakers, and delegates for supporting and participating in such positive fashion at our inaugural IMFORMED Rendezvous this week (8-10 April, at Les Jardins du Marais). It was a real pleasure to facilitate such a vibrant forum on its first outing for a [...]

Mineral Recycling Forum 2019 Krakow – Review This year’s Mineral Recycling Forum 2019 took place in the lovely city of Kraków, south Poland, where international delegates from across the supply chain of industrial mineral recycling gathered to network and listen to an expert panel of speakers. The Welcome Reception at the Malecon Restaurant provided excellent [...]

Drivers, factors, keys to success Following on from our earlier analysis of the underlying principles of the industrial minerals business (see Part 1: Overview, structure & key takeaways), here we discover what makes it tick, by highlighting the industry’s drivers, influencing factors, and keys to success. All these aspects of the market and more will [...]

Overview, structure, & trends The industrial minerals market is not always an easy one to understand. Minerals and rocks exploited for their non-metallurgical value represent a vital but frequently poorly understood sector of the global minerals industry – often (and rather unfairly) labelled as “unglamorous” and even “the Third World of the mining industry”! But [...]

It is with great sadness that we report the recent passing of Prof. Wen Lu, the respected authority on Chinese industrial minerals. Wen Lu’s contribution to knowledge and understanding of China’s vast industrial minerals resources was second to none. In particular, his communication of that knowledge, charming manner, and all round willingness in responding to [...]