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 >

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

Salt supply & demand: insights & new developments

Salt Forum 2024 Review: Global supply | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Kazakhstan | EU | Solar salt | Chlor-alkali | Sodium-ion Batteries | Processing IMFORMED’s Salt Forum 2024 in Abu Dhabi November 2024 was a resounding success, bringing together the global salt market from right across the supply chain. We were absolutely delighted to host [...]

By |2025-07-16T10:10:17+00:00Wednesday, 16 July, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Salt supply & demand: insights & new developments

Industrial minerals trade and the “T” word

US Tariffs: minerals & markets in the line of fire Introduction to Mining Engineering IM Annual Review July 2025 by Mike O’Driscoll* There is no doubt, if any existed, that the commercial minerals world has now moved into a new era of unprecedented challenges in sourcing, mining, processing, trade and use of industrial minerals. Title [...]

By |2025-07-10T13:15:12+00:00Thursday, 10 July, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Industrial minerals trade and the “T” word

Fluorspar supply & demand trends: is there a shortage?

Seen & Heard in Ulaanbaatar: Review of Fluorine Forum 2024 In what must rank as one of IMFORMED’s most ambitious conference venues to date, we were delighted to hold Fluorine Forum 2024 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Ulaanbaatar, 14-16 October last year. And what a success is it was, despite the relative remoteness of the [...]

By |2025-06-05T09:17:57+00:00Monday, 2 June, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Fluorspar supply & demand trends: is there a shortage?

MagForum 2025 milestone in Brazil

Last week’s magnesia carnival - MagForum 2025 - in Praia do Forte, near Salvador, Bahia was a resounding success! In its 10th Anniversary year, IMFORMED staged its MagForum flagship conference outside Europe for the first time, and brought together 130 of the world’s leading players in the magnesia supply chain for two days of networking [...]

By |2025-06-04T15:27:17+00:00Tuesday, 27 May, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on MagForum 2025 milestone in Brazil

Illuminating sustainability in refractories: RHI Magnesita walks the talk

Boosting CO2 reductions, recycling rates & game changing CCU plants: Constantin Beelitz, President Europe, CIS & Turkey, RHI Magnesita, talked with Mike O’Driscoll, IMFORMED on the company’s accelerating journey in sustainability within one of the most energy-intensive mineral manufacturing industries critical to many end markets. Title Image All fired up: RHI Magnesita is a leader [...]

By |2025-05-13T21:17:21+00:00Tuesday, 13 May, 2025|Newsfile|Comments Off on Illuminating sustainability in refractories: RHI Magnesita walks the talk