keynote speakers

The keynote lecture "New challenges for gravity concentration and classification of fine particles" will be given by Prof. Kevin Galvin, Laureate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals.

Kevin is the inventor of the Reflux Classifier used in gravity separation of fine particles. With over 180 installations around the world, the technology has been used to beneficiate coal, iron ore, mineral sands, potash, chromite, and other base metal oxides. New innovative systems are emerging including the Graviton and the Reflux Flotation Cell through collaboration with FLSmidth. He has also been developing a novel agglomeration technology with Jord International. 

Kevin obtained his PhD from Imperial College and is a Laureate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and previous recipient of numerous awards including the Antoine Gaudin Award in mineral processing. He is Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals.

The keynote lecture "The role of magnetic separation in the development of critical and strategic metal recovery flowsheets" will be given by Prof. Neil Rowson, Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham and Laboratory Manager at Bunting-Redditch.

Neil worked in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham for over 30 years before retiring in 2018. He now lectures part-time at the University in design studies and project management as well as being Laboratory Manager at Bunting-Redditch – a major global manufacturer of magnetic and electrostatic separation equipment.

He holds a PhD from Leeds University – studying the Desulphurisation of Coal by Microwave Energy – supervised by Dr Neville Rice. In the last decade, he has worked on major research projects investigating the technology for recycling Rare Earth Magnets from secondary waste arising such as computer hard drives and automotive scrap. He was also part the ReLiB research project funded by the Faraday Institution and led by the University of Birmingham looking at the physical, chemical and bio-chemical processing options and safety implications of recycling lithium ion automotive batteries.