It is with great sadness that we report the recent passing of our great friend, mentor, and worldly industrial mineral geologist Dr Ian Wilson in mid-June 2023, just weeks away from his 80th birthday. Without a doubt, Ian was one of the legendary geologists and communicators of the industrial minerals world and made long-lasting friendships [...]
Workshop at 2023 AGM of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Sometimes you’ve just gotta get back to basics to properly understand the principles of the industrial minerals business and how it functions. IMFORMED was offered the opportunity to do just this by kind invitation to run a workshop at the 2023 Annual General Meeting of Benchmark Mineral [...]
My introduction to last year's IM Annual Review of Mining Engineering concluded with a pointer to the challenges facing the industrial minerals sector in developing and employing carbon emissions reduction, energy conservation, and recycling practices for a sustainable future (see Industrial Minerals Review 2021-22: Testing times sustain market turmoil, but outlook positive). Throw in further critical raw material [...]
A hot, intense, but fabulous time last week networking at GIFA-METEC 2023, catching up with our many clients and contacts, and making new friends in the industrial minerals, refractory, foundry, metallurgy, & trading markets. We were especially pleased to meet so many Chinese contacts who were able to travel for the first time since the pandemic lockdown [...]
Projects in Mongolia & Germany | Updates from USA, Canada, Italy, Kenya, Australia World fluorspar production capacity remains tight, with few, if any, new production capacities ready to come on-stream any time soon. However, there are some very interesting projects in the pipeline. Title Image Feeling their way underground: (left) Examining fluorite veins at KHD [...]
Industrial Minerals | Refractories | Li-ion Batteries | Construction Materials | Fertiliser | LIBS Springtime in Dubrovnik? It must be time for IMFORMED’s Mineral Recycling Forum 2023! And indeed it was, with close to 100 international delegates attending from across the industrial mineral recycling supply chain. Title Image Sun, Sea & Recycling: Another successful Mineral Recycling [...]
IMFORMED interviews Anıl Sönmez, Chief Executive Officer, Almatis Almatis is the market leader in speciality alumina products and solutions for the high performance refractory, ceramic, polishing and speciality markets. In April 2023, IMFORMED interviewed Almatis CEO, Anıl Sönmez, to catch up with recent developments and to assess how the company has responded to recent challenges, [...]
Review of IMFORMED’s inaugural Salt Forum 2022 Hamburg In response to market demand, IMFORMED launched its inaugural Salt Forum in Hamburg last year at the Grand Elysée Hotel, 15-17 November. And what a success it turned out to be! The event drew leading international players and experts from across the salt industry spectrum to present, [...]
Fluorine Forum 2022 Review | Seen & Heard in Hanoi All good things come to those who wait. And for Fluorine Forum to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam we had to wait three years, but we got there – and it was definitely worth waiting for! What an occasion it was: record attendance, excellent presentations, fantastic [...]
It was great to be back at the SME Annual Conference & “MINEXCHANGE” Expo in Denver after a five-year absence, catching up with friends, making new contacts, and taking the pulse of the North American minerals industry. From 26 February to 1 March 2023 >6,500 attendees participated in >120 technical sessions and visited MINEXCHANGE 2023, [...]
