Introduction to Mining Engineering’s IM Annual Review July 2024 by Mike O'Driscoll* The importance of industrial minerals to the world economy and everyday lives always used to be a hard sell to the uninitiated. Just having to explain what they are and how they are characterised in the context of the world mining industry was [...]
Review of Salt Forum 2023 Supply & Demand Trends | New Source Projects | Southern Africa | Senegal | Europe | APAC | India | Australia | Processing | Logistics IMFORMED has organised its acclaimed industrial mineral Forums in many interesting locations, and one of the most remote, adventurous, and spectacular venues was for Salt [...]
Leading world magnesia and refractories producer RHI Magnesita (RHIM) plans to acquire US diverse refractory product and mineral producer Resco Group for US$430m. The move, announced by the Vienna-based group on 30 March 2024, marks a reinforcing of RHIM’s position in the USA following last year’s opening of its regional head office in Tampa, Florida, [...]
Review of the XII European Congress of Refractory Raw Materials, Machinery & Installation Graphite | Alumina | Andalusite | Silicon Carbide | Magnesia | Logistics | Decarbonisation | Recycling Kicking off this year’s European refractory events calendar, Seville in the springtime appeared the perfect place to gather for IMFORMED’s second refractories conference co-organised with ANFRE [...]
Focus on refractory & abrasive markets By Nicholaus Rohleder, Co-Founder, Climate Commodities* The nexus between industrial minerals and national security is a topic of paramount importance, often overlooked in broader discussions about defence readiness and strategic autonomy. Title Image: An illustration of the LGM-35A Sentinel, the US Air Force’s newest weapon system under development as [...]
Magnesia World Sources Map® Primary world sources & production capacity of key magnesia raw materials Magnesite | Caustic calcined magnesia | Dead burned magnesia | Fused magnesia | Magnesium hydroxide | Brucite | Huntite | Dunite | Olivine | Kieserite Distributed to attendees at all IMFORMED conferences and all relevant industry events | Extra print & PDF copies for sale In the supply [...]
“Squaring the circle” is a problem in geometry that was first proposed in Greek mathematics. The expression “squaring the circle” is also sometimes used as a metaphor for trying to do the “impossible”, and can also mean to bring together two things which are normally thought to be so different that they cannot exist together [...]
Review of Oilfield Minerals & Markets Forum 2023, Houston, 9-11 May And a new format announced for 2024! Industrial minerals remain essential ingredients to all oil and gas drilling operations. While the large volume workhorse minerals such as barite, bentonite, and silica sand are in constant demand, different drilling requirements and challenging environments demand performance [...]
Salt Forum 2023 takes place in Swakopmund A spectacular week concluded earlier in November discussing salt supply and demand amid networking with the world’s leading players at IMFORMED’s Salt Forum 2023, Swakopmund, 6-9 November. This was just our second Salt Forum following the inaugural event in Hamburg last year (see Salt market to grow as [...]
IMFORMED’s largest event to date for the global fluorine raw materials market last week saw 200 attendees network and listen to a packed programme of expert speakers at Fluorine Forum 2023, at the Pullman Cannes Mandelieu, 16-18 October. Topics included fluorspar market overview, shipping and logistics, China, Mongolia, potential new sources from Australia, Germany, Italy, [...]
