Programme*
MONDAY 19 MAY
16:00 Registration
18:00 Welcome Reception sponsored by 
TUESDAY 20 MAY
07:30 Registration
INTRODUCTION | WELCOME ADDRESS
09:00 Welcome & Introduction
Mike O’Driscoll, Director, IMFORMED, UK
09:30 Welcome Address | Global mineral supply developments of RHI Magnesita
Gustavo Franco, Chief Customer Officer, RHI Magnesita, Austria
10:00 COFFEE
MAGNESIA OVERVIEW | DECARBONISATION | CAPACITY INVESTMENTS
11:00 Magnesia market outlook: geopolitical trends & critical mineral status
Jessica Roberts, Research Director, Project Blue, UK
11:30 The challenges of decarbonisation, C footprint reduction, & ESG: which strategy for the magnesia industry?
Renato Ciminelli, Technical & Commercial Director, Mercado Mineral, Brazil
12:00 Brazilian magnesia: superior quality, scalable production, and global distribution
Rajah Jayendran, Chief Technology Officer, RHI Magnesita, Austria
12:30 KEYNOTE DISCUSSION PANEL
Status & Outlook for the Magnesia Market
moderated by Mike O’Driscoll, Chairman; with panellists:
- Dr Rainer Gaebel, Managing Director, Refratechnik Holding GmbH, Germany
- Alvaro Lopes, Head of Global BU Minerals, RHI Magnesita, USA
- Adriana Carvalho, Snr Manager, Pricing Metals Americas, S&P Global, Brazil
- Meera Sawhny, Joint President, Global Monarch FZC, UAE
- Renato Ciminelli, Technical & Commercial Director, Mercado Mineral, Brazil
13:00 LUNCH
SUPPLY DEVELOPMENTS
14:30 Brazil’s magnesite resources, production, developments & markets
Dr Maisa Bastos Abram, Head of the Dept. of Mineral Resources, Geological Survey of Brazil – SGB, Brazil
15:00 Magnesia & industrial minerals supply to the Americas: new capabilities & target markets
Emilio Lobato, Commercial Director, IBAR Ltda, Brazil & Giovanni Tancredo, Managing Director, IBAR Refractories, USA
15:30 BEL MAG overview: high purity seawater magnesia manufacturing, specifications & speciality markets
Willyan Doim, Product Strategy Manager, Buschle & Lepper, Brazil
16:00 Transforming legacy mine tailings into high-purity MgO: a low-carbon innovation in magnesium production
Olivier Dufresne, Chief Executive Officer, Exterra Carbon Solutions, Canada
16:30 COFFEE & ROUNDTABLE NETWORKING SESSION
Opportunity for attendees to relax, network & discuss informally at themed & hosted roundtables
- Supply Jessica Roberts, Research Director, Project Blue, UK
- Carbon Capture & Utilisation Renato Ciminelli, Technical & Commercial Director, Mercado Mineral, Brazil
- Refractory markets Daniele Fonseca de Lima, Marketing & Technology Director, Vesuvius, Brazil
- Speciality markets Samantha Wietlisbach, Executive Director Research & Analysis, S&P Global, Switzerland
Ottavio Carmignano, Vice President Director, ABREFEN, Brazil
17:30 Drinks Reception & CLOSE OF DAY 1
*subject to change
WEDNESDAY 21 May
MARKETS 1: REFRACTORIES | STEEL
09:00 The future of MgO steelmaking refractories: innovations to reduce MgO-C brick specific consumption
Daniele Fonseca de Lima, Marketing & Technology Director Advanced Refractory South America, Vesuvius, Brazil
09:30 Steel in flux: A global overview amid on and off tariffs
Adriana Carvalho, Senior Manager, Pricing Metals Americas, S&P Global Commodity Insights, Brazil
10:00 COFFEE
MARKETS 2: CHEMICALS | HYDROMETALLURGY | FERTILISER
11:00 Overview and outlook for the CCM and downstream chemicals market
Samantha Wietlisbach, Head of Inorganics and Minerals Research, S&P Global, Switzerland
11:30 The use and importance of calcined magnesite products in the hydrometallurgical industry
Mustafa Çavaç, Marketing & Sales Manager Raw Materials, Kumaş, Turkey
12:00 ABREFEN, soil remineralizers, natural fertilizers and Enhanced Rock Weathering in Brazil
Ottavio Carmignano, Vice President Director, ABREFEN, Brazil
12:30 RHI Magnesita Field Trip Induction Briefing
13.30 LUNCH & CLOSE OF CONFERENCE
*subject to change
THURSDAY 22 MAY
FIELD TRIP TO RHI MAGNESITA, BRUMADO, BAHIA
PLEASE NOTE: subject to availability, if wishing to attend please contact [email protected]
Provisional itinerary*
05:45 Meet Hotel Lobby for imminent departure
06:00 Depart Tivoli Hotel for Salvador Airport
08:15 Flight from Salvador to Vitória da Conquista (1hr 20min)
10:15 Bus from Vitória da Conquista Airport to Condado, Brumado (2.5hrs)
12:45 Briefing & Lunch (Safety rules; PPE)
13:35 Transfer from Condado to Catiboaba plant
13:45 Catiboaba plant tour
14:15 Transfer from Catiboaba to Pedra Preta mines & plant
14:35 Pedra Preta plant tour (2 Mines, Geology Shed and Rotary Kiln)
16:15 Pedra Preta mine blast
16:45 Social Project (Community Garden); Coffee & Closing
17:30 Bus transfer from Catiboaba to Vitória da Conquista Airport
21:00 Flight from Vitória da Conquista to Salvador Airport
22:25 Arrive Salvador Airport; transfer by bus to Tivoli Hotel
00:00 Arrive Tivoli HotelPlease wear clothing and footwear as befits a working industrial site visit
*subject to change
