International Mineral Processing Council

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF

THE INTERNATIONAL MINERAL PROCESSING COUNCIL
BRISBANE
7/8 OCTOBER 2009.

Present:

Cyril O’Connor (Chairman - Cape Town, 2003)

Robin Batterham (Vice Chairman: President – Brisbane, 2010; Chair: Mineral Processing
Commission)
Pradip (Vice-Chairman Designate: President - XXVI IMPC, 2012)
Eric Forssberg (Immediate Past Chairman)
Guiseppe Bonifazi (Rome, 2000)
Jan Cilliers (Chair: Education Commission)
Kari Heiskanen (Elected member)
Rodney Elvish (Elected member)
Sun Chuanyao (Elected member) (with Han Long in attendance)
D R Nagaraj (vice P Somasundaran – San Francisco, 1995)
Ralph Holmes (XXV IMPC Organizing Committee – in attendance)

1. Welcome and Apologies

The Chairman welcomed all present and thanked those who had travelled long distances for
making the effort to attend. He especially welcomed Guiseppe Bonifazi who was attending his
first Council meeting having replaced Paolo Massacci on Council. The Chair thanked Professor
Massacci for his outstanding contributions to the Council over many years, especially as the
President of the Organizing Committee of the XXI IMPC in Rome in 2000 and asked Professor
Bonifazi to convey Council’s best wishes to Professor Massacci.

He also thanked Dr Nagaraj for agreeing to stand in for Professor Somasundaran at the
meeting.

Apologies had been received from:

Guven Onal (Istanbul, 2006)

Hermann Wotruba (Aachen, 1997)
P Somasundaran (San Francisco, 1995)
Roberto Villas-Boas (Chair: Sustainability Commission)
Sergio Castro (Elected member)
Wang Dianzou (Beijing, 2008)

The Chairman noted that both Wang Dianzou and Guven Onal had recently experienced
serious health problems but was informed that they were now apparently recovering well. On
behalf of the Council he wished them both a full and speedy recovery.

The Chairman also extended the Council’s congratulations to Roberto Villas-Boas who was unable to
attend due to a clash with an event at which he was to receive a prestigious award.

Dr Holmes outlined the Programme for the members’ 3 day visit to Brisbane.

2. Confirmation of the minutes of the meetings held in Beijing on 23 and 26

September 2008

The minutes of the meeting of 23 September were confirmed as being a true reflection of the
deliberations at that meeting.

The following changes were accepted:

 Correct spelling : ‘Forssberg’

 Add ‘V Chanturiya’ to those in attendance at 23 September meeting

3. Matters arising – minutes of 23 September 2008

 Item 13: The Chair noted that he, Eric Forssberg, P Somasundaran and Guven Onal had
attended a luncheon at the time of the SME meeting in Denver in February 2009 at which
the late Nat Arbiter’s daughter had received a scroll commemorating his receipt of the
IMPC Council Award.

 Item 15: The Chair pointed out that Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Angola had all
become part of an enlarged Southern African Institute for Mining and Metallurgy.
Nevertheless he undertook to explore opportunities for these countries to have
membership of the International Advisory Committee. Similarly he would liaise with
Roberto Villas Boas and Sergio Castro to solicit names from Bolivia and Peru. He would
also follow up on Ghana, Indonesia and Iran.

 Item 17.1: The Chairman was in touch with Professor Fuerstenau re the history of the
IMPC. Barry Wills had drawn up a list of Congresses and their Chairmen and this was
now featured on the IMPC website (www.impc.org.za/history.htm)

 Item 17.2: The Chairman explained that there were technical difficulties related to placing
e-versions of the IMPC Proceedings on the website. It was agreed that various options
 would be explored by the Organizing Committees of the XXV and XXVI IMPCs to enter
into an agreement with a publishing house which would be prepared to host the
proceedings. This would also satisfy the need to move away from publishing hardcopies
of the Proceedings at future Congresses.

Matters arising – minutes of 26 September 2008

 Item 3: It was agreed that no further discussion be held in this regard and that the matter
was now closed.

 Item 4: The Chairman again encouraged all members of Council who were not directly
engaged in the organization of a Congress to become members of one or other
Commission.

4. Update on organisation of the XXV IMPC

Dr Ralph Holmes made a presentation on the various organisational aspects of the XXV
IMPC. There was general support from Council for the arrangements to date. The following
matters did however generate considerable discussion:

 Proposed list of Plenary/Keynote lecturers: Members of the Council expressed

concern at the current proposed list of plenary and keynote lecturers. Specifically it was
felt that:

 The current slate was not considered to be sufficiently global

 The listed names did not appear to contain any ‘heavyweights‘ from the
mining/minerals processing industry.

Views were expressed that the Committee should give consideration to a stronger
representation of very senior people associated with the mining/mineral processing
industry worldwide. The President of the XXV IMPC agreed that the matter needed to be
reviewed by the Organizing Committee and undertook to discuss this matter with
Professor Ralston who was chairing the Technical Programme Sub-Committee.

 Refereeing of Papers: The Organizing Committee was urged to ensure that papers
were refereed by people from outside Australia. They were encouraged to use the
members of the International Advisory Committee, inter alia, for this purpose.

 Congress Proceedings: It was agreed that henceforth no hardcopies of the Proceedings

would be provided to delegates. However it was strongly recommended that the XXV
IMPC Committee and Pradip, President of the XXVI IMPC Committee, work together to
identify a publishing house which would host the electronic version of the Proceedings
(cf. Item 3 above). The possibility of the Council entering into a long term relationship with
such a publishing house was also suggested. Jan Cilliers indicated that he was aware of
such a company in London and would pass on the details to Ralph Holmes. It was also
noted that such a company could provide hard copies to interested persons at some
agreed price. These should have a consistent format from Congress to Congress.
  Post-Congress tours: It was noted that some members were of the view that it was
unlikely that there would be a major uptake of delegates for post-congress tours.

 Young Author Award: It was agreed that awards be made to authors under the age of
30 as had been done in Beijing. The Scrolls would be presented to them at the Congress
Banquet.

5. Report back on XXIV IMPC in Beijing

Han Long, on behalf of Sun Chuanyao and Wang Dianzuo, presented a final report on the
XXIV IMPC (see attached). The Council acknowledged with acclaim the outstanding
organization of the Beijing Congress and again congratulated Wang Dianzuo, Sun
Chuanyao, Han Long and all their colleagues on the Organizing Committee for having
presented a truly memorable Congress. It had indeed been too good to miss!!

6. Report on organisation of the XXVI IMPC due to take place in New Delhi in 2012.

Dr Pradip outlined preliminary arrangements for the organisation of the XXVI IMPC in New
Delhi. Some discussion took place on the most suitable venue and a number of Council
members who were familiar with the options proposed expressed their views. Council
suggested that the most suitable venue would be the Ashok Hotel in New Delhi.

It was noted that given India’s strong interest in coal processing this could well be a major
theme at the Congress. Council wished Pradip and his colleagues well for the Congress.

[Note: cf. item 8.1 below: Following discussions at this juncture in the meeting, it was agreed
that henceforth the Organizing Committee for the nth IMPC would include, as ex officio
members, the Presidents (or alternates) of the (n-1) th and (n+1)th Congresses. ]

7. Bids from Chile and Canada to host the XXVII IMPC in 2015.

The bids from Chile and Canada were again reviewed with a view to identifying issues which
they should address when submitting their final bids at the time of the XXV IMPC. It was
agreed that there should be no return to simultaneous translations.

Chile:

 It was again emphasized that they should ensure that their bid was formally submitted by
a national learned society.

 There was concern about the relatively low number of papers submitted and delegates
attending IMPCs in recent years from Chile.

 It was important that they make a more detailed presentation of the format of the
Congress.

 They should be encouraged to submit a proposal supported by a group of South

American countries to ensure a critical mass of interested institutions.
 They should be requested to ensure that there were no competing major
local/S.American Conferences during the year of the IMPC.

 More details should be provided regarding post-congress tours recognizing that these
were less favourable with delegates than in the past.

Canada:

 They should be requested to ensure that there are no national competing minerals
processing conferences in the year of the IMPC.

 As in the case of Chile, more details should be provided regarding post-congress tours
recognizing that these were less favourable with delegates than in the past.

 It was important that they make a more detailed presentation of the format of the
Congress.

8. IMPC Constitution

The following constitutional changes were proposed for final ratification at the Council
meeting to be held at the time of the XXV IMPC in Brisbane.

8.1 Current clause:

IMPC ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Composition:
The President chairs this Committee and is responsible to the Council for implementing an
enabling structure to ensure effective planning and carriage of the Congress.

The structure of this Committee is not pre-determined but Council must be satisfied that its
composition and operation are appropriate to carry out all the Duties and Responsibilities.

Full details of the Committee’s structure and operation must be included in the Strategic Plan

Proposed amendment:

Composition:
The President chairs this Committee and is responsible to the Council for implementing an
enabling structure to ensure effective planning and carriage of the Congress.

The structure of this Committee is not pre-determined but Council must be satisfied that its
composition and operation are appropriate to carry out all the Duties and Responsibilities.

In the interests of continuity the Organizing Committee shall co-opt the Presidents (or
alternates) of the previous and next Congresses.

Full details of the Committee’s structure and operation must be included in the Strategic Plan
 8.2 Current clause:

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Duties & Responsibilities:

This Committee advises Council on all scientific and Member matters and supports and advises
Congress organisers particularly in publicising and eliciting abstracts for forthcoming IMPC.
This Committee also assists Congress organisers with suggestions for topic areas for papers,
referees etc. The Committee may retire Members (and their Alternates) who have been
deemed to not have been active for a significant period of time.

Proposed amendment:

See Item 15 below.

8.3 Current clause:

IMPC MEDAL COMMITTEE

Proposed amendment:

IMPC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD COMMITTEE

8.4 Subsequent to the Brisbane meeting the following amendment was agreed to through an
electronic poll of Council members.

Current clause:

INTERNATIONAL MINERAL PROCESSING COUNCIL

Composition:
The Council shall consist of the current Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Vice-Chairman-
Designate, the immediate Past Chairman, the Congress Presidents of the last six Congresses,
Chairmen of Commissions established by Council and four other Members who are elected by
the Council.

The four elected members shall be decided upon by secret ballot conducted by the Council…..

Agreed amendment (to take effect as from the Brisbane Congress)

INTERNATIONAL MINERAL PROCESSING COUNCIL

Composition:
The Council shall consist of the current Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Vice-Chairman-
Designate, the immediate Past Chairman, the Congress Presidents of the last six Congresses,
Chairmen of Commissions established by Council and six other Members who are elected by
the Council. The term of office of an elected member, three of whom would be elected at any
given Congress, would be for the period from the nth IMPC at which they were elected until the
(n+2)th IMPC.

The elected members shall be decided upon by secret ballot conducted by the Council…….
[Note: It was further agreed that in order to give effect to this new arrangement the current four
elected members would continue to serve until the XXVI IMPC at which time they would stand
down and three new members would be elected. Thus as from the XXV IMPC in Brisbane
onwards at each IMPC three new persons would be elected to the Council at each Congress].

9. Council Membership

It was agreed that a call for nominations for new members of Council would go out by early2010
at the latest. In terms of 8.4 above, Rod Elvish, Sergio Castro, Kari Heiskanen and Sun
Chuanyao would continue as members until the XXVI IMPC in New Delhi in 2012. They would
of course be eligible for re-election at that time.

11. IMPC Commissions

Since the Workshop scheduled for 9 October would focus specifically on the Commission work
there were no detailed reports. A written report from Roberto Villas-Boas was tabled. It was
agreed that Pradip, Robin Batterham and Jan Cilliers would liaise with each other with respect
to the possibility of a joint theme/session at New Delhi on the work of their two Commissions.
Roberto Villas-Boas may wish to liaise with Pradip in the same regard.

12. Lifetime Achievement Award

Eric Forrsberg, Chairman of this Committee, presented a report on the arrangements for the
election of a recipient of the Award in Brisbane. The Award Committee will consist of himself as
Chair and the Presidents of the current and last three Congresses viz. Robin Batterham, Sun
Chuanyao (vice Professor Wang Dianzuo), Guven Onal and Cyril O’Connor.

A suggestion that the winner of the Award at the previous Congress be automatically invited to
present a lecture at the following Congress was discussed. It was eventually agreed that it
would be preferable that a lecture be presented by the winner of the Award at the Congress at
which he/she received the Award. It was agreed that this will be implemented at the XXV IMPC.
This will mean that the closing date for nominations will be 31 May 2010 and that the winner will
be advised before the Congress of the outcome to provide sufficient time to prepare a lecture. It
was agreed that Eric Forssberg would consult with Robin Batterham regarding a possible new
format for the nomination documentation.

It was confirmed that, as provided for in the Constitution, unsuccessful nominees from the XXIV
and XXIII IMPCs would have their nominations carried forward for consideration by the Award
Committee.

The Chairman reported that Scrolls had been prepared for previous recipients and that they
would be presented to those who attended the XXV IMPC or otherwise will be posted to them.
13. IMPC Council Award

The Chairman reported on the ceremony which took place at the SME meeting in Denver in
February 2009 at which the late Dr Nat Arbiter’s daughter received a Scroll. P Somasundaran
was thanked for having arranged this event. The luncheon at which the scroll was awarded also
recognized the achievements of Professor Somasundaran on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Some discussion took place on the need to ensure that there was no confusion between the
criteria used for the Council Award and that for the Lifetime Achievement Award. These
currently read as follows:

Lifetime Achievement Award:

The IMPC Medal recognises a lifetime of distinguished achievement and outstanding
contribution to the advancement of the art, science and industrial practice of mineral processing
together with participation in and contribution to the IMPC.

Council Award:
The IMPC Council may from time to time make an award known as the "IMPC Council Award"
to persons who have over a sustained period made outstanding and noteworthy contributions to
the activities of the Council.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the former focused on distinguished scientific contributions
with the caveat that the recipient should also have been an active participant at Congresses.
The latter award focused on contributions to the Council in its broadest sense. Jan Cilliers
agreed to liaise with Kari Heiskanen to develop a proposal for a clearer wording for the Council
Award in order to ensure that there was no confusion. This would be tabled at the next meeting
of the Council.

14. Portfolios of Council Members

The Chairman again requested members to volunteer to serve on the IMPC Commissions. He
requested those who indicated a preference should liaise with the Chairmen of the
Commissions. Guiseppe Bonifazi indicated that he would join the Education Commission.

15. International Advisory Committee

The role of this Committee was discussed at some length. This was largely focused on giving
this Committee a greater role in the activities of the IMPC since at present it was largely
symbolic. Robin Batterham and Kari Heiskanen volunteered to review the relevant section of the
Constitution and to table a proposal at the next meeting of Council. (cf. Item 8.2 above)

It was agreed that henceforth members of this Committee would receive copies of the minutes
of the Council meetings.

It was further agreed that the Chairman of Council would liaise with the Organizing Committee
of the XXV IMPC regarding the scheduling and agenda of the International Advisory Committee
meeting during the Brisbane Congress.

The Chairman indicated that he had not yet solicited nominations from the countries suggested
as new members at the last meeting of Council (cf. Item 3, 2nd bullet above).
16. Scrolls for previous recipients of Lifetime Achievement Award winners

Cf. Item 12 above

17. Use of telephone conference options for IMPC meetings

The matter was discussed and although it was recognized that it was costly for members to
attend Council meetings it remained the strongly preferred option. It was agreed that when
necessary the option of a telephone conference was acceptable.

18. General

 Eric Forssberg expressed concern at the fact that the dates for the IMPS event for 2010
was very close to that of the XXV IMPC. This was unfortunate since it may result in a
poor attendance from countries in the region of interest to the IMPS.

It was also noted that the format of the IMPS flyer was remarkably similar to that of the
IMPC. The Chairman undertook to consult with Guven Onal in this regard.

It was also noted that this reinforced the need for the bidding country for an IMPC to
undertake not to allow any significant clashes of events with the IMPC.

 It was agreed that at the XXV IMPC invitations would be extended to countries
interested to bid for the 2018 XXVIII IMPC to submit proposals for consideration at the
time of the XXVI IMPC. A decision on the venue for the XXVIII IMPC would be made in
New Delhi.

 The Chairman reported on a proposal he had received from Professor Doug Fuerstenau
suggesting that consideration be given to commemorating in some form those eminent
members of the IMPC who had died since the previous Congress. The proposal met with
approval of Council. After some discussion it was agreed that an appropriate list of such
persons form part of the Congress Proceedings. It was agreed that the Chairman and
the President of the XXV IMPC discuss the best way in which this could be done.

19. Next meeting of Council

The next meeting of the Council would be on the morning of Sunday 5 September 2010.
Specific times and venues would confirmed at a later date.

The Chairman thanked Dr Ralph Holmes and Ms Antonia Riley for the excellent arrangements
for the meeting, the Workshop scheduled for 8 October and the field trip on the 9 October. He
also extended the Council’s sincere thanks for the superb hospitality extended to all the
members of Council throughout their stay in Brisbane.