As IMFORMED nears its eighth anniversary, Mike and Ismene would like to thank all our customers, sponsors, friends, and families for their unstinting support during 2022. The last three years has been challenging, particularly 2020-21, and 2022 should perhaps be marked as a year in transition: the world cautiously exited pandemic lockdowns and returned to travel and [...]
It is with great sadness that we report on the passing of three friends and colleagues from the industrial minerals world. Each were stalwarts of the industrial minerals business, widely respected and recognised for their individual areas of expertise, fondly remembered for their contributions and participation at industry events, and above all for their friendship [...]
Mineral Recycling Forum 2022 Dubrovnik Review | 2023? same place, same time! If we were to talk about high drama in Dubrovnik, you would be forgiven for immediately thinking of the successful medieval fantasy TV drama series Game of Thrones, much of which was filmed in and around the beautiful old town of Dubrovnik. However, [...]
As we head towards the final quarter of 2022 and look towards 2023 and beyond, the international refractory industry is readying itself for a busy period of important international refractory meetings (ICR, Aachen; ALAFAR, Foz do Iguaçu; IREFCON, Kolkata). Kicking off the season was IMFORMED’s China Refractory Minerals Forum 2022 ONLINE held on 14 September [...]
Since its restructuring and new management announced in January 2021, we have been reporting on the evolution of Essen-based global mineral distributor Cofermin Group. In this latest follow-up article we focus on the management and role of Cofermin’s chromite division, Cofermin Chrome, established in 2015. Title Image Chromite Horizons: One of South Africa’s leading sources [...]
New sources of salt are being developed to meet the rising demand for salt worldwide. Some 330m tonnes of salt is consumed globally, with the primary markets being the chloralkali and deicing sectors. The Asia-Pacific region is seeing significant market demand growth estimated at 35% over the next decade. However, the region has been beset by [...]
Fluorspar market awaits outcome as it readies to meet at Fluorine Forum 2022 Canada’s beleaguered newcomer to the global fluorspar supply sector, Canada Fluorspar Inc. (CFI), is awaiting news, potentially by mid-October 2022, of a positive outcome to end its period of interim receivership and closure since February 2022. On 30 August, Newfoundland’s Supreme Court [...]
IMFORMED was delighted and honoured to have its Refractory Raw Material World Sources Map® reproduced in the feature articles section of the August 2022 issue of the American Ceramic Society Bulletin (map details here). The section focused on mineral supply for the ceramics and glass industry, including critical mineral supply chains and refractory raw materials. Also featured [...]
CRM reality check, sustainability & recycling | EIG 2022 Review IMFORMED was honoured to speak on recycling industrial minerals at last week’s 22nd Extractive Industry Geology Conference, hosted by the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter. Some 170 delegates from across the UK’s minerals industry attended this well-established event enjoying the sunshine, [...]
Testing times sustain market turmoil, but outlook positive 2020-21 was all about coping with COVID-19 and responding to the pandemic’s ramifications and the subsequent recovering market demand. While 2021-22 has seen a continuation of this trend, also thrown into the mix has been the tragic Russia-Ukraine conflict which has compounded the situation further. In short, [...]
