ISSN 2056-6735 (Online)

Drakelands Tungsten Mine - Enter Wolf Minerals
By-Product Status: Implications for Reserve Estimates

The magazine of the Minor Metals Trade Association

1st Edition 2016/January www.mmta.co.uk 1

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2Membership
Subscription
Fees Held for
2016
MMTA Members will have noticed that for the
6th year, we have held the rate at £1200.
In that time we’ve gone from strength tostrength as an Association:

Increased engagement in issues affecting
the industry has meant that we’ve gonefrom 1 employee in 2010/11 to a staff of 3
today;

We undertake activities to raise the profileof the Association, promote the activitiesof the Membership and the importance ofminor metals;

The association has a much wider andmore international Membership, including
contra agreements with other supportingorganisations, such as the CRM Allianceand the International Magnesium
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The Crucible has developed from aquarterly newsletter to a magazine with a
global distribution, and from January 2016
will be produced monthly;
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It will not come as a surprise to you that overthe past 5 years our operational costs haverisen, and in order to drive forward with
developing the Association for the benefit of
the Membership, we posted a small deficit lastyear. Based on our current income, this trend islikely to continue. However, given the current
economic climate, the Directors decided at theirlast meeting that this is not the right time toincrease subscription fees, and that we should
support the Membership in these difficult times
by absorbing the deficit in 2016 and delay any
increase in fees until 2017.
With best wishes for the New Year on behalf ofthe MMTA Board and the Executive Team,NEW MMTA MEMBERMMTA News

3

In Brief—Member News

5

Glencore is one of the world’s largest global
diversified natural resource companies anda major producer and marketer of morethan 90 commodities. The Group's
operations comprise of over 150 mining andmetallurgical sites, oil production assets
and agricultural facilities.

Drakelands Tungsten Mine

6—7

Discovering the Elements

8—9

By-Product Metals Recovery inan Uncertain Market

11—12

Regulatory Updates

13

With a strong footprint in both establishedand emerging regions for natural
resources, Glencore's industrial andmarketing activities are supported by aglobal network of more than 90 offices
located in over 50 countries.

Letter From America

14

Glencore's customers are industrial
consumers, such as those in theautomotive, steel, power generation, oil andfood processing sectors. We also provide
financing, logistics and other services to
producers and consumers of commodities.
Glencore's companies employ around
181,000 people, including contractors.
Glencore is proud to be a member of the
Voluntary Principles on Security and
Human Rights and the International Council
on Mining and Metals. We are an active
participant in the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative.

By-Product Status: Implications
For Reserve Estimates

16—19

Cover Picture: Shaking Table, Drakelands
Tungsten Mine, Hemerdon, UK

The MMTA promotes
essential elements that add
quality, safety andenjoyment to our lives.
The MMTA is the world's
leading minor metals industry
organisation.

Primary contact: David Brocas
Email: David.Brocas@glencore.com

Contact Us:

Website: www.glencore.com

Address: MMTA, Suite 53, 3 Whitehall Court,

Phone: +41 41 709 2000

London, SW1A 2EL, UK
Tel: +44 (0)207 833 0237

NEW MMTA MEMBER

Environmetals LLC
The MMTA is delighted to welcome
Environmetals LLC, based in Simsbury, CT,
USA as a new Member.
Environmetals is a trader and processor of
zirconium and hafnium metals.
Primary contact: Bill Sharkey

Yours sincerely

Email: bill@environmetalsllc.com

Maria Cox,

Website: www.environmetalsllc.com

General Manager

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Phone: +1 860 214 6529

Email: executive@mmta.co.uk

Disclaimer: The information and data contained in thisedition of the Crucible (the Material) has been compiled by the
Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) from sources believed
to be reliable at the time of writing but the MMTA makes norepresentation or warranty (express or implied) as to theaccuracy, timeliness or completeness of the Material. The
Material is provided for information purposes only, but is not tobe relied upon as authoritative or taken in substitution for the
exercise of the reader’s own skill and judgment. It should not be
relied upon for any specific or general application without firstobtaining competent advice. The MMTA, its members, staff andconsultants accept no liability whatsoever (however that liability
arises) for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising fromany use of the Material.
The Crucible contains links to third party websites and material
and information created and maintained by organisations otherthan the MMTA. These links are provided solely for yourconvenience. The MMTA does not guarantee the accuracy,
relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any third party
information or material accessed by means of a link within the
Crucible. The inclusion of a link is not intended to reflect theimportance of the third party materials accessed through it, nor
is it intended to endorse any views expressed, accuracy ofmaterial, products or services offered or other information
made available via the link.

3THE MMTA’S INTERNATIONAL MINOR METALS CONFERENCE 2016
TAKING PLACE AT NH GRAND HOTEL KRASNAPOLSKY,AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 17-19 APRIL 2016
Organised by Metal Events Ltd
We will once again be hosting a high quality speaker programme with relevant and topicalpresentations on a wide range of themes. Make sure you are part of the industry's premier
event for the minor metals sector attracting over 200 attendees.

Platinum Sponsor

We are delighted that C. Steinweg Handelsveem BV is hosting a reception for all
delegates on board the Het Wapen van Amsterdam on Monday April 18.

Be sure to take advantage of the excellent value Early Bird Rates:
MMTA Members £895 (+21% VAT) for registrations received from 15th January 2016
Non-members £995 (+21%VAT) for registrations received from 15th January 2016
To register or for more information please visit www.metalevents.com or www.mmta.co.uk
alternatively email sales@metalevents.com

What attendees had to say about our 2015 Conference:“A great opportunity to meet with customers, suppliers and colleagues. The key factors for us attending the conference are the wealth of

information provided by the speakers and a convenient method to interface with the key individuals in our in businesses..”
Matt Danish, Telex Metals , USA“The Conference is well-organized, industry attendance is excellent, and the presentations are relevant and interesting. From a trader’s
perspective, it not only provides insight into new business opportunities but also delivers a platform where you can meet the partners necessary toembark on a new project.”
Melvin Hill, Aminco Resources , USA“We get to meet up with all the suppliers of our strategic materials in first class surroundings at a well organised topical conference.”
Wavell Coulson, Rolls-Royce Plc, UK“There is a large gathering of our clients within one location giving the opportunity to meet with and or be available to our clients within a specified
time frame...the opportunity to meet with potential new clients also at the same time and learn about their businesses.”
Paul Chew, Alfred H. Knight, UK

4

IN BRIEF
Introducing…..
Lewis Winters,Account Executive
Purity Certification Services @EAG Labs, Inc.
Vast skills and abilities that span more than seventeen years
in technical sales focusing on the establishment of longterm customer relationships, advanced technology productknowledge, and superior client services. Interpersonal andarticulate, able to pursue initiatives that capitalize on
strengths and opportunities, and a proven track record ofeffectively building and leading sales teams to attain/exceed
imposed goals and objectives. Lewis resides in Austin, Texasand he supports the Evans Analytical Group (EAG Labs, Inc.)
Materials Characterization Division’s Purity Survey Services.
High-purity metals and alloys find applications in
automobiles, semiconductor devices, aerospace materials,
sputter targets, evaporation sources, magnetic media, andmany other products. Accurate and precise determinationof their chemical composition ensures that end users havethe right materials for their specific applications. EAG canverify the purity of these materials and certify the results
under ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation.

U.S GAO interviews the MMTA
As many of the North American Members will
already be aware, the MMTA was recently
interviewed by the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) on the potential
creation of a ‘Critical Raw Materials (CRM)’ list for
the U.S.A. similar to the EU CRM list which has
existed since 2010. GAO is looking broadly at
U.S. federal government efforts to identify andstrategically plan to address critical materials
supply issues at the request of the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
For the purpose of this review, “criticalmaterials” are not limited to rare earth materials
and could include a variety of other non-fuel raw
and semi-finished materials used in the
production of advanced technologies.
The MMTA was asked about some of the lessons
that could be learnt from the EU list, whether along-term or a short-term approach should betaken by the government, what such a list could
be used for, as well as the quality of data andunderstanding of the minor metals industry andsupply chain.
The MMTA has asked to be kept informed of the
progress of this project, and we will thendisseminate any updates or opportunities toparticipate further to Members.

Pioneering Shipbroker Changes theLandscape to Help Charterers &Ship-Owners
Last year, Rotterdam based shipbroking firm Blue Ocean Brokers, a subsidiary of
MMTA-Member Odin Warehousing & Logistics (OWL), launched a revolutionary
idea to charge a flat brokerage fee of EUR 750 per fixture, instead of apercentage of the seafreight. The aim is to close more fixtures, as the shipowners would have to take less money into account in their voyage calculation,
reducing the seafreight level the charterer has to pay. “It is a win-win-win
situation”, says MD, Alain Grotenhuis.
According to Grotenhuis the new concept adheres to the strategy andphilosophy of the Odin Group, as it adds value to our customers’ supply chain bydecreasing logistics costs without compromising on the service level.
“By maintaining low overhead costs, investing in ICT facilities and choosing theright location, we are able to offer our clients a value proposition which means
reduced costs on their supply chain, but still offer a dedicated service with thefamous single point of contact principle.”
The same applies to our concept in shipbroking. “In our opinion, it is simply
unfair that we, as an intermediary, gain more money when the seafreight ishigher, although the workload remains the same. Moreover, as an intermediary,
the risk of money loss is only in a commission which is not to be paid by the ship-owner. Whereas both the charterer and the ship-owner invested in assets—
the ship and cargo - and thus run a higher risk of loss of capital. Therefore, we
think the majority of the benefit should lie with those running the real risk ofcapital loss,” says Grotenhuis.
“With this strategy, it is important to think about how the landscape haschanged over the years. Traditionally, in the past, brokers could create acomparative advantage by having a large network of ship owners and charterers
and the ability to quickly mix and match the cargo position to a ship position.
This was in the days of telexes and, earlier, in cafés like the Baltic Exchange
where brokers met ship-owners to ‘sell’ a cargo”, Grotenhuis claims.
In Grotenhuis’ opinion, this traditional way of mixing and matching has vanished.
He continues, “with the evolution of the internet, the shipping market has
become open to everyone. Charterers can be much more easily approacheddirectly by a ship-owner and vice versa. By creating an automatic address list,
with the click of one button, you can inform ship-owners about your open cargo
position. In short, both the workload and communication expenses of thebroker have decreased. This should be accounted in the earnings of the broker,
which is his brokerage.”
In a broader sense Grotenhuis thinks the role of a shipbroker in general is on theline. In his opinion, it is just a matter of time before the broker becomesredundant. “Just look at the financial market or the housing markets. A houseowner can now sell his house via the internet without the use of realtor.
In financial markets, banks are not allowed to charge a percentage on the valueof the mortgage, only a flat fee,” says Grotenhuis.
Although the concept is revolutionary and is proven to reduce seafreight levels,
some charterers are skeptical of the concept, as they are afraid there are hidden
costs which arise only later. “Sometimes it is a struggle to convince a client,”
Grotenhuis says. “But this concept is even more transparent than a commission
and is supported by a charter party, clearly stating the money we earn, andcountersigned by both parties.”
With the claim by some charterers that they do not benefit from a reduced
seafreight, Grotenhuis is brief. “It is simple, the owner makes a calculation on all
the costs of the voyage. Besides bunker costs and daily operation costs, thecommission paid to the shipbroker is also accounted for. So if a voyage costs
EUR 100,000 on seafreight with 3.75% on brokerage, EUR 3,750 is included.
We charge a flat fee of EUR 750—EUR 3,000 cheaper, and thus instead of
EUR 100,000, the seafreight is now EUR 97,000. If the charterer ships
3,000mtns, this means his supply chain costs are reduced by EUR 1.00 per mtns.
Multiply by your year’s tonnage, you know how much you save.”5

Drakelands Tungsten
Mine - Could this be
the most popularmine in the world?
Who would be a miner?

Second, Wolf has been
clever choosing theirasset. Rather thanpicking virgin terrain,
Wolf has taken asecond look at
something that was
already proven. At the
MMTA we hear all too
often from juniorminers marketing an
asset to raise funds
based on an
extrapolation of value for an element that at time of funding
remains strictly in the ground – and unproven.

If your name happens to be Glencore, Anglo, BHP, Vedanta, Rio, you
might be wondering what kind of model made you think mining was Drakelands is rather different. The site had been identified andmined for tungsten in Victorian times and, in the early 1970s, mining
a good business.
giant, Amax, spent £10 mln on pre-feasibility. But Amax neverYears ago, I was lucky enough to meet the mining prospector who
developed the asset because, by the time the work had been done,
discovered the Cyprus Anvil mine in Canada. At that time it was one prices were poor. Wolf hopes, of course, that history will not repeatof the largest zinc-lead resources on earth. He described how heitself, and there are good reasons for optimism.
was dropped by helicopter onto the snowy sub-zero wastes of theUsing www.measuringworth.com, the £10 mln Amax spent is worth
Canadian Yukon and left with just his tent, food, ice-picks, shovels,
morethan £100 mln in today’s money. In other words, Amax spentand a shot-gun to ward off the grizzlies. His only means of exit wasthesame
as Wolf, but Wolf’s money has gone on the more positivea rendez-vous at agreed map co-ordinates six weeks later.
sides of digging – equipment, process, labour, health and safety, andDiscovering that deposit was, in fact, the easy bit. Funding,
product.
developing, and managing, a mining resource like Cyprus for the
As a result, Wolf’s cash costs are relatively low. Measured in prices
long-term or, in the case of, say, Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon,
152 years (and counting), requires persistence. In mining, one thing for APT (Ammonium Paratungstate), which is the benchmark for themarket, break-even is about $108 per dmtu, according to Wolf’s
is a dead cert – odds on failure are higher than anything else. It is
brochure.
Taken together with debt servicing, realised prices after
one thing mining high in the Yukon or down in the deserts of Utah, inthediscounts
to the APT price that Wolf receives for its wolfram ore
locations where populations are small. But what mining house
to
allow
for
conversion
costs, the mine will not be wildly profitable
would make the job even harder and go digging in populous and
right
now.
But
with
pricessteadying at time of writing at $170-185
regulated Britain?
per dmtu for APT (Source: MB 16.12.2015), WO3 at $10-11 per kg WO3 ,It would appear there is one. Enter, Wolf Minerals.
ferro tungsten at $21.50-$22.25 per kg W (Source: MB 16.12.15) Wolf
will hang on in there.
My visit to Britain’s newest mine, in South Devon, on the last day of
November 2015 is under the guidance of Health and Safety Officer,
Andy Harry, on the day that first run-throughs of wolfram ore arebeing trialled. I stand at the top of a wind and rain-swept Hemerdon
Hill and survey a panorama of outlying farms with sheep, 22,000
saplings planted by the mine owners, a solar panel farm and, at thecentre, the 850 metre by 450 metre and 260 metre deep open-castmine taking shape.

The background factors cannot be changed and are beyond Wolf’s
power: the ultra-dominance of a weakened China (forced tocontinue making and selling tungsten to keep people in work),
the ascendancy of Vietnam as a competing producer, lower
industrial activity both in China and elsewhere, reduced demand for
Tungsten Carbide and EU laws banning tungsten filament andincandescent light-bulbs.

Across my line of vision I can see the mine waste facility being built
up and am shown how it will gradually move across the landscape as
the years go by. I see also the catch-pits, into which run-off water isdirected in a series of connected pools, which act as filters to stop
dirty water leaving the site. Meanwhile, earth-moving equipment
lumbers across the landscape like yellow-painted dinosaurs. Afterall, we are not far from the Jurassic coast.

But, if prices and demand improve even slightly, Wolf and its
customers are set to reap the benefit of eight years’ work since
taking this project on in 2007 and now have a completed mine toshow for it and the prospect of 35.7 mln tons of proven ore grading
at 0.18% tungsten (about 60,000mt or half the annual world
demand of tungsten). Essentially, this is why I am here in South
Devon being shown round a working mine and process facility andnot just a glossy consultancy report.

Strange as it may seem (and despite the lowest prices for tungsten
in a generation) Wolf’s chances are not bad.

A few days after my visit, by chance, I meet surveyor, mine andquarry owner, William Voaden, who tells me some of the history.
While metal mining in UK was allowed to wither and die, quarrying
was not.

First off, Wolf does not represent ‘big mining’. Drakelands is Wolf’s
only asset. Where big digging (and even bigger debt) is regarded bysome as beautiful, Wolf sees mining beauty elsewhere. Listed inAustralia, where mining is understood, this windswept reserve with a The area in which Drakelands sits is surrounded by reserves often-year renewable mining licence is, in mining terms, a tiny project English China Clay similar to the exhausted Cornish works adopted
that required just £123 mln of investment.
by Sir Tim Smit and turned into The Eden Project.
6

Clay works, unlike other forms of mining, are relatively easily
reclaimed by nature and actually become a magnet for wild life,
like a sunken oil platform attracting fish and coral.
The history of mining in the West Country is long and deep. Fromthe pre-biblical Cornish tin trade with the Phoenicians and Cyprus,
exchanging tin for the bronze artefacts made from it, through tothe Zinc mining of the Romans in the Mendips near my home inSomerset, the West Country instinctively sees mining as its friend.
A mining job is a better form of farming when it comes to pay.
In fact when Wolf agreed to re-build the road leading to the mine,
the locals were won over instantly. It was more than Devon Council
had done - and the sheep farmers were happy.
It is true that on one level Wolf’s fate does not lie in its own hands
but with prices and customers – and the thing that will actually
make or break Drakelands is customers. Those customers arelargely Global Tungsten & Powders and Wolfram Bergbau undHütten , in the USA and Austria. Eighty percent of Drakelands’
output is split on long-term formula sales to these two with thebalance to be sold on the
spot market.
Both GTP (the groupformed by the merger ofPlansee of Austria with
Sylvania Osram) and
Wolfram Bergbau (of the
Sandvik group) have
similar but separate
reasons for wanting tokeep this non-Chinese
resource of tungsten
afloat. Synonymous with tungsten, Wolfram Bergbau, whose
Mittersill mine in Austria is a strategic asset, has a demand for low
radioactivity ore - a grade that Drakelands can easily supply. While
Wolfram Bergbau’s mine, discovered in 1967, is not exhausted,nevertheless the company fears depletion and would want tolengthen its life as an asset. GTP, meanwhile, does not own a mine,but is one of the premier companies making all manner of downstream products out of tungsten, for industries such as aerospace
and, as such, are vulnerable to the uncertainties associated withdependency on China.
You would have to ask, in all seriousness, whether these twogroups would want to allow this new operation to expire? And
what would be their interest in letting Drakelands fail?
Out of the 120,000 tpy world market for tungsten, although
Drakeland’s 3/5,000 tpy output represents less than 5% of world
supply, when you look at what this represents as a percentage ofsupply, excluding China, this rises to more than 25%. In the powerplay with China this little corner of Britain may contain a counterbalance which has huge strategic significance to this close-knit
industry.
The first thing in the mine’s favour, it seems to me, is price – but ina different sense to the one you might imagine. The memory ofAmmonium Paratungstate (APT) prices at $350 per dmtu in 2008,
when China had the tungsten market to itself, might be the spur tomake GTP and Wolfram Bergbau think twice. To allow Drakelands
to fail, would simply return control of the tungsten market to China
and return prices to damagingly high levels. Would this be betteror worse for the two off-takers? As consumers and makers ofdownstream products of tungsten, it could be argued that
supporting Drakelands in hard times will provide the balancing
factor of local security of supply should prices rise sharply in the
future.
Secondly, Drakelands does not reside in a conflict zone (unless it
happens to be a night when the local Football team, Plymouth
Argyle, has lost to Portsmouth) and tungsten mining is regulated
under the Dodd-Frank agreement. All tungsten from Drakelands isby definition ‘conflict-free’, it is therefore certifiable for content in
consumer goods for use by consumers worldwide who need toknow for certain that their products do not contain conflictminerals damaging to their reputation.
Thirdly, as mentioned, Drakelands’ output will be low in ‘uraniumplus-thorium’ contents (less than 10ppm) which is appreciated by
Sandvik/Wolfram Bergbau who generally demand the lowest
radioactivity available.
Fourthly, the EU has defined tungsten as a critical raw material. In
other words it encourages
tungsten production in
Europe as a strategic
counter-balance to China
on fears that the largest
producer might hold backsupply.
But more than theforegoing, there could be
one other over-arching
factor that will ensure
Drakeland’s success andsurvival. As I leave Hemerdon, having been shown through theprocess, I am struck by one factor above all - doing things right,
from health and safety, to high standards in process, means‘efficiency’ – and that very efficiency (not cutting corners) equals‘low cost’.
Yes, choosing Britain in which to mine, must have caused somehead-rubbing. UK has exacting standards; every emission ismonitored, health and safety is paramount, wages are European,
the Environmental Agency is stringent, and mining licences can bewithdrawn. But – and I am commenting here as a UK citizen morethan a merchant – isn’t it good to see mining done to highstandards? We know it can be done, and yet so often, out of sightand out of the glare of London, in developing countries, corners are
cut and standards are low; justified by the mania to keep costs
down, but usually at the cost of the environment or people.
It would be my hope that Wolf will prove that doing right is good forboth profit and survival.
Perhaps, then, Drakelands could indeed be the most popular minein the world - and Plymouth Argyle Football Club, top of League
Two of the English League at time of writing, will get promotion?
Michael Foot, its MP, post-war, in 1945 during the Attlee
Government, and later leader of the Labour Party, who once said
he would only die after Plymouth Argyle reached the Premiership,
would be proud.
Anthony Lipmann, Lipmann Walton & Co Ltd
View live streaming at the Drakelands mine: http://www.wolfminerals.com.au/irm/
content/live-streaming-video.aspx?RID=326
www.wolfminerals.com.au

7Discovering the
Elements
In his book, The Last Sorcerers, Richard Morris charts the path fromalchemy to the periodic table. He describes how scientists andphilosophers have tried for well over two thousand years tounderstand the nature of the universe, as well as its composition.
According to the ancient Greek philosopher, Thales, there was only
one fundamental elements—water. Although this seems ridiculous
today, when one considers that when heated, water evaporates
into mist, and when frozen it becomes solid, as well as having theability to sustain life, it isn’t impossible to see why this idea seemedplausible. This theory then developed into one that was held to betrue for over two thousand years—namely, that the four ‘roots ofall’, or elements were earth, air, fire
and water. Aristotle also added afifth, which was supposed to be thesubstance from which heavenly
bodies were made.
Alchemy was a fusion of Greek andEgyptian thinking. Egyptians hadpracticed many chemical processes,
including metallurgy, for centuries,
and had created many ‘recipes’ forchemical transformations, forAncient Greek alchemical drawing
example when cinnabar (mercuryore) was heated and was ‘transformed’ into a pool of liquid metal.
The Egyptians knew of seven metallic elements: gold, silver, copper,
tin, iron, lead and mercury, but the Greeks were unable to see themas distinct elements, choosing instead to categorise them as
mixtures of the traditional four elements, earth, air, fire and water.
These changes in the state of elements seemed to confirm to theancient philosophers (scientists did not exist at that time) thattransformation from one element to another was a possibility.
It was in the years between 640 and
720 that the Muslim scholars had
Greek and Syrian texts translated
into Arabic and so learned of theideas of ancient philosophers, andalso of alchemy, the name they gaveto the collections of chemical
recipes and techniques handed
down from the Egyptian alchemists.
Jabir ibn Hayyan
It is in Arabic alchemy that theconcept of the Philosopher’s Stone—a substance believed to turnbase metals into gold—first appeared.
Arabic alchemy was only discovered in Europe in the 11th Century
when texts were translated from Arabic into Latin. One Arabic
alchemist in particular, Jabir ibn Hayyan (known as Geber)introduced a theory that all metals were simply mixtures of8sulphur, mercury and arsenic (except gold which was just sulphur
and mercury). Jabir’s theory was that gold contained the mostmercury and the least sulphur, so other metals could betransformed into gold if ways were found to increase their mercury
content.
Following the translations of
the older Arabic texts into
Latin, European alchemy
began to grow in the 11th and12th Centuries, and although
was equally unsuccessful infinding the Philosopher’s
Stone, did make theimportant discoveries ofGeber-Waterbath 1678 woodcut
how to make strong
sulphuric and nitric acids in the early 14th Century, and so they wereable to dissolve most metals. Some alchemists became completely
obsessed with their quest for the Philosopher’s Stone and devoted
their lives to discovering how to turn base metals into gold,
spending family fortunes in the process.
The Swiss-German physician and alchemist, Paracelsus, who wasborn in 1493 was the first to use the term ‘chemistry’. Despite many
long-lasting myths suggesting he had discovered the secret ofimmortality and was a servant of the devil, he engaged in serious
experimentation in order to learn new cures for illnesses and was
the first to focus on the purity and quantities of the chemicalcompounds he created. He also made an attempt to classify
different chemical substances based on the reactions they
produced. In fact he was the first to clinically describe syphilis andput forward small quantities of mercury as a treatment for the
disease, which remained the standard treatment until 1909.
Robert Boyle, the 17th Century English scientist, was the founder ofmodern chemistry, as distinct from the work of alchemists, dye
makers and metallurgists, and by the time of his death in 1691,
chemistry had grown out of natural philosophy into a science.
He challenged, although was unable to disprove, the long-heldtheory of the four elements.
At the start of the 17th Century, there were 13 known elements, ofwhich 9 (carbon, sulphur, iron, copper, silver, gold, tin, lead andmercury) had been known since classical times, while arsenic,
antimony, bismuth and zinc were discovered between 1250 and
1500. Most of these known elements were relatively low meltingpoint metals, perhaps discovered through fires. In 1650, however,
all the known elements were still believed to be mixtures of earth,air, fire and water, except for tin, which was thought to be a mixtureof silver and lead.
The first new element to be discovered since 1500 was
phosphorous, discovered by an alchemist attempting to make gold
from urine. This discovery eventually led chemists to realise that if
one new element had been found, there may perhaps be still more.
The next element, 66 years later, was cobalt—first used to colour
glass, and from which the metal was first extracted in 1735.
There followed a period of rapid discovery, with a total of 78
elements being discovered during the 18th and 19th Centuries.

By 1900, the question that was puzzling chemists was why there
were so many elements.

He was so confident in his system that he was sure the changes had
to be correct.

It was, of course, Dimitri Mendeleev who discovered the periodic
law—it couldn’t explain why there were so many elements, but did
allow him to group together elements with similar properties, aswell as predict the existence of elements that had not yet been
discovered, along with their atomic weight and chemical andphysical properties. There was at that time, 1865, no comprehensive
textbook of chemistry in Russian, so he decided to write one.
During the course of this work, he gave much thought to the factthat there was no guiding principle of chemistry. He felt that there
must be an order to the 63 elements that were known at the time.

Mendeleev also used his system to predict the weights andproperties of ‘missing’, undiscovered elements which would fill theempty spaces in his table. There were elements under boron,
aluminium and silicon which he knew must have similar properties.
He called them eka- (the number 1 in Sanskrit) boron,
eka-aluminium and eka-silicon.
When he first published his work in 1869, there wasn’t muchinterest, until he published a revised table two years later. He hadrevised the table, listing elements vertically rather than in horizontal
rows. This work was then translated and received a great deal ofinterest from both Russian and foreign scientists.

As he wrote, it seemed natural to him to group the elements
together into those with similar properties. To help him do this, he
In 1875, eka-aluminium was discovered and named gallium (after
created a card for each element, including its atomic weight andthe ancient name for France). Scandium’s discovery in 1879 filled
most significant properties, such as melting point, density andthe eka-boron slot and eka-silicon was filled by germanium in 1886.
malleability. He ordered the cards according to their atomic weight,
Mendeleev’s predicted atomic
beginning with hydrogen, the lightest, and ending with uranium, theweights and properties wereheaviest known at the time.
largely accurate.
By pinning the cards on the
In honour of Mendeleev’swall, he noticed that thecontribution, an artificial
properties of the elements
element was discovered at“were periodic functions of
the University of California at
their atomic weights.” The
Berkeley. It was produced
same properties could be seen
one atom at a time, with aafter every seven elements.
total of 17 atoms being
Several of the elements,
Dimitri Mendeleev
produced in total. The
however, simply didn’t fit intoscientists named it Mendelevium, and it was added to the periodic
his scheme—beryllium wastable as element 101.
thought to have an atomic
weight of 14 at the time, which
would have put it in a group
Images: www.wikipedia.org, www.alchemywebsite.com, www.kullabs.com,
www.chemwiki.ukdavis.edu, www.springer.com
with nitrogen and phosphorus, so he took a leap of faith andchanged the atomic weight to 9, which put it into the magnesium
Source: Morris, Richard, The Last Sorcerers—The Path Fromfamily, where it seemed to fit. He did the same with tellurium,
Alchemy to the Periodic Table, Joseph Henry Press, Washington
moving it from 128 to
D.C, Copyright, National Academy of Sciences.
somewhere between 123
and 126, and doubling the
Periodic Table News
atomic weight of uranium,
making it 240 (the modern Officials from the International Union of Pure andApplied Chemistry have confirmed the discovery of
figure is 238, so he wasn’t
as-yet-unnamed elements 113, 115, 117 and 118,
far off).
completing the 7th row of the Periodic Table.
More in February’s Crucible.

This image and above: early versions ofMendeleev’s Periodic Table

MMTA OFFICE MEETING ROOM

Screen, projector & flipchart

FREE USE FOR MEMBERS

Free Wi-fiTea, coffee, water provided—other

CENTRAL LONDON LOCATION

refreshments can be arranged at cost

Library and PC resources

Contact the MMTA to book the meeting room.

910

By-product Metal Recovery inan Uncertain Market
DG GROWTH’s recent by-product metal recovery conference inBrussels was host to widely diverse views on the technology
and policy challenges of increasing the availability of a range ofmaterials essential to the EU’s supply chain security, which aresummarised here.
Firstly, the current pricing structure for metals does not incentivise
producers to recover their by-products. There is hope that prices
and/or demand will increase
to incentivise greater
recovery than is currently
being undertaken. The
longer-term question iswhether the EU hassustainable access to thesecurrently unrecovered
metals, as they are
undervalued in the market.

However, the process to recover by-products should not affect the
production of the main metal, as that is where the economic value isderived. The reality is that the by-product does not exceed 2-5% of
the value of the main metal. There is a significant capital investment
required to recover by-product metal, so focussing on this activity is
not currently attractive to primary metal producers. Despite the factthat from a Critical Raw Material perspective there is high value in
by-product metals, this value is not reflected in the price.

MarketThis is the mostchallenging aspect, as themetals’ markets are
currently not functioning;
The inability of themarket to resolve theseissues came out as a key
point over the course of
the conference. Minor
So how is it possible tometals are morepersuade a plant manager toMaria Cox presenting on the role of the MMTA and importance of minor metals to theimportant for users thanrecover by-products?
EU By-product Metal Recovery Conference
for producers. They are
There are 4 key factors to beimportant for smelters and refiners, but for most are not the key
considered:focus of their production. Will mines/smelters focus more on
Environmental
by-products in future? Yes, but their main focus will
understandably continue to be on core business. Some will want to
There is a growing need to treat huge stacks of ‘waste’ material anddiversify income streams, so will be more receptive. However, this isalso to try not to increase them further;
all against the short-term picture of troubled markets with low
Currently, by-product recovery processes are not very efficient;
prices. Platinum, for example, is described as an example of market
More cooperation with potential users of by-products is needed, tofailure, where the industry cannot function in a context where 70%
address environmental issues and thereby avoid further burdening of producers are operating at below the cost of production.
our environment.
There is a balance to be struck. Prices need to incentivise
At the same time, there is increasing environmental regulation andproduction, but if they rise too much it’s a disincentive forgreater focus on the environmental impact of the metals and mining consumers.
sector.
Producers won’t invest in by-product recovery unless they think
Technical
they can make money, so how can the market be convinced to invest
and to take a risk? There is not one straightforward answer to this
There is only minimal interest from major producers in developing
question, the reason being that it is not a straightforward question.
new technological processes to recover by-products. HydroNamely, the market is one thing, and security of supply is something
metallurgy is currently the dominant way of extracting by-productmetals, although some recovery is through pyro-metallurgy. A more completely different – we need to be clear which we want.
efficient and selective means of extraction, for example using
solvents or ion exchange, needs to be found. Modern Chinese
smelters are producing 15-17 by-products, but older lesstechnologically advanced smelters can only recover 2 -3. These allneed modernising.

If what we want is for this to be left to the market, prices won’t movejust because we say we need to incentivise producers. It is also
important to point out that not all are following the same set of rules,
for example, the Chinese government has a high ability to influence
the market, so in this context, the market cannot compete.
11Security of Supply
Security of supply cannot be achieved by following market rules, so
if we want security of supply, we have to operate to a different set ofrules than traditional market rules.
If the aim is for increased by-product metal recovery to be a coreelement of European security of supply, something needs to be
developed, and some have suggested policy instruments along thelines of the Common Agricultural Policy. It was set up to allow a big
influence to be exercised on a particular industry, on a market thathas to be supported, but the CAP consumes a large part of the EU
budget, and it would be an understatement to say that it is notuniversally popular; however, it does support agriculture.
The problem is that the raw materials’ market is global, notEuropean, so it can’t be controlled by Europe.
The primary goal of such a policy would be to maintain prices at ahigh enough level to ensure the viability of by-product metal
recovery.

between free trade and measures offering some degree ofprotection to a particular market. In this modern era of globalisation,
we are all interdependent – no one country is self-sufficient in all its
resource needs, so an approach needs to be found where all can
co-exist and do business.

Alternatively, is there a place for a stockpile? They exist, for example
in China and the USA, and have the role of stabilising prices for minor
metals that don’t reflect supply and demand. There has been an EU
project to explore the possibility of stockpiling in Europe, but the
study found it was not needed by the big companies, although it
might have been useful for SMEs.

Finally, to return to the environment - there is a moral obligation to
use the planet’s resources as efficiently as possible, for the benefit of
us all. Can such an obligation be left to the market? It does notrespect the environment (that is not its role), so if we want to protect
the environment, we cannot just leave the future to the market.

Whatever the success of any intervention, prices will still facefluctuations due to regulations and export restrictions, for example.

Peter Craven, Mintek, South Africa

But the EU is trying to level the playing field.

Ioannis Paspaliaris, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

It applies trade measures such as anti-dumping controls, in an
attempt to help protect the EU market. There are othermechanisms that the EU and other markets can apply where
disputes occur, for example through the WTO

Round Table Participants:
Rein Nieland, of the EU Commission’s DG TRADE
Christophe Petit, Eramet, France
Don Smale, International Metals Study Groups, Portugal
Chair: Mattia Pellegrini, Head of Unit C2, Resource Efficiency & Raw
Materials, DG GROWTH

The introduction of conflict minerals regulation in the US andcurrently being discussed within the EU, requires industry to do due
diligence. The argument was made that there needs to be a balance Maria Cox, MMTALAST OPPORTUNITY TO BOOK FOR THE MMTA’S NEW YORK DINNER
Thursday 21st January 2016 from 6—10pm

New York Yacht Club, W44th Street, NY, USA

Start 2016 strong and capture business opportunities in Q1!
Share networking drinks & canapes with business colleagues and friends
Speaker: David Abraham, Director of the Technology, Rare & Electronics Materials Center and author of The Elementsof Power. For more information on David and his work, go to www.davidsabraham.com.
Followed by a locally sourced 3-course meal, and at the historic New York Yacht Club, in the Commodore’s Roomoverlooking the spectacular Model Room.
We have been able to hold the cost of the New York Dinner, offering great value to kick off the new year:
Cost: MMTA Members: $150 (GBP100)

Non-members: $200 (GBP130)

The evening is kindly sponsored by Exotech Inc.

12

REGULATORY UPDATESConflict Minerals
Chinese Chamber of Commerce
for Metals, Minerals andChemicals Implements OECD
Responsible Mineral Sourcing
The OECD and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Minerals,
Metals and Chemicals Exporters (CCCMC) have recently launched
the Chinese Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Mineral Supply
Chains. These Guidelines are of importance, as many manufacturers
globally use components sourced from companies based in China.
These Guidelines will now align with the OECD Due Diligence
Guidance for Responsible Mineral Sourcing from Conflict Affected
and High Risk Areas and were developed in collaboration between
the two organizations.

“United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”
which is the first corporate human rights responsibility framework
supported globally.
The hope is that the approach taken internationally will put pressureon mineral smelters to gain certification for their output. Once a
critical mass is certified, it will help manufacturers upstream to meettheir obligations. It is estimated that there are approximately 370
smelters in the 3TG supply chain, of which round half are now
certified.
Companies are advised that they will need to set up auditableprocesses and practices and make sure they keep track ofdevelopments.

The primary responsibility of companies that they do notintentionally or unintentionally cause, contribute to, or benefit fromhuman rights abuses or armed conflict, and respect the humanrights of all whom their business activities might impact.
Responsible companies, therefore, must conduct ongoingcomprehensive due diligence on all aspects of their business,
including risks that may be present in the supply chains throughwhich they source natural resources. The recognized international
The Guidelines are designed to align Chinese company due diligence framework to conduct supply chain due diligence in the natural
resource sector is the “OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible
with international standards and allow for mutual recognition with
Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk
existing international initiatives and legislation. Companies are
Areas”,
which serves as the basis for most industry programs on
required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and the
responsible mineral supply chains in many countries.
implementation of these Guidelines cannot act as a substitute forsuch legal or regulatory compliance.
The Guidelines provide guidance and support to companies which
are extracting and/or using mineral resources and their related
products and are engaged at any point in the supply chain ofminerals to identify, prevent and mitigate their risks of directly or
indirectly contributing to conflict, serious human rights abuses andrisks of serious misconduct. These companies are also encouraged
to use the Guidelines as a reference.

IN BRIEF

The implementation of the Guidelines will initially be voluntary.
For the full copy of the Guidelines see: http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/chinese-due-diligence-guidelines-forresponsible-mineral-supply-chains.htm
BackgroundThe extraction and trading of natural resources can create abeneficial relationship between local communities and companies,
with growth and prosperity for all. As widely seen, however, natural
resources can also be exploited to fund armed conflict, with therecent focus being on 3TG (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold). Theinternational community has focused on breaking the link between
business and the violation of human rights over the past decade.
Measures range from UN Resolutions to initiatives such as the“Kimberley Process” (for the traceability of diamonds) from which
global standards, laws and regulations have been implemented.
In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed theSouth Korea:
K-REACH — Lead
Registrants have been
published for 121 of
the 510 priority
existing chemical
substances.

Cadmium in Artists’Paints:In a previous Crucible
we reported on a
proposal from
Sweden to ban theplacing on the market
and use of cadmium
and its compounds inartists' paints. The
EuropeanCommission has now
rejected this
proposal.

13

LETTER FROM NORTH AMERICA
Dear Members
Well, it’s the shortest day of the year soon; winter – supposedly. But it was already some 62°F at 05.45 thismorning. Another record? Let’s see how Paris will now help.
Retirement often means little in minor metals when it comes to the continued presence of the retiree in thesomewhat rarified world in which we move. I understand from Maria Cox that, only the other day, she met up
with Tom Graedel of Yale at the recent EU By-Product Metals Recovery Conference in Brussels. After 18 years at
the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Professor Graedel ‘retired’ in June. However, he remains morethan active in the field. (You may remember that the professor is the prime mover behind Yale’s Criticality
Consortium, the spring meeting of which I wrote about in a couple of issues of The Crucible earlier this year.)
Another notable announcement of ‘retirement’ (effective on 5th January next year) has been that of the doyen ofrare earths here in the U.S., Karl Geschneidner. Professor Geschneidner truly can be described as ‘Mr. Rare
Earth’. Amongst other things, he is the Chief Scientist of the Critical Metal Institute – a U.S. Department ofEnergy Innovation Hub, a Senior Metallurgist at the Ames Laboratory (the ‘ government-owned, contractoroperated national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy ’), and the distinguished Professor of Materials
Science and Engineering at Iowa State University.
Even though he may have celebrated his 85th birthday in November, the professor intends to continue
working and will continue to occupy the same office he’s had since 1963! His situation seems most enviable.
As Professor Geschneidner described it in a piece published recently by the Ames Laboratory: “ The biggest

difference in being ‘retired’ will be that I don’t have to be here for meetings! I can just concentrate on the
research.” I think this can only constitute a very just reward after over 60 years in the world of metals! I can but
wish him all the very best in his ‘retirement’.

Finally, on the subject of metals research, I can thoroughly recommend the following paper (published in April in
Environmental Science & Technology): “Mining Critical Metals and Elements from Seawater: Opportunities andChallenges”. It is fascinating.
I’m sure that, back in 2011, and sporadically thereafter, many of you will have seen various articles in the press
about Japan (and other countries) and undersea mining. This research piece takes a different view and says,‘Don’t look at undersea mining, look at what is in, and could be extracted from, seawater’. If nothing else,
extracting it from seawater could have considerably fewer environmental impacts, for example, chemical
pollution and habitat removal and/or disturbance.
There certainly seem to be a ton of metals in the oceans’ waters. These include not only loads of ferromanganese, but also “large amounts of dissolved ions (~30-45 g/L) including hydrated ions of critical metals/
elements such as Li, Mo, Ni, Zn, V, and Au”. There are, in addition, quantities of Co, Nb, Ag and U: who would
have thought?
Needless to say, the trouble is extracting them – economically, or at all! As Hamlet (amongst others) would say:“...there’s the rub”. Not least, as the paper points out: “…the availability of high capacity and selective separationmaterials remains a major and unresolved challenge”. So, whilst providing an interesting prospect, I don’t think
we should hold our breath.
And, on that note, from an unseasonably warm New York, I remain, with best wishes for the holiday season (bynow probably past) to MMTA Members everywhere.
Tom Butcher, December 15th, 2015
©2015 Tom Butcher

Not metal, but….
A new hi-tech material has been developed by an Oxford University
lab, with a cost per gram of…wait for it….£100m. Unfortunately forus, the material is not a metal but is a ‘cage of carbon atoms
containing nitrogen atoms.’
The material is being used to make a small, portable atomic clock
which will be the most accurate timekeeping system in the world,
enabling improvement in GPS positioning accurate to 1mm.

14

15

BY-PRODUCT STATUS: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESERVE ESTIMATESC P Broadbent (Wardell Armstrong), R Seltmann (Natural History Museum), J Drielsma (Euromines),
W Reimer (Geokompetenzzentrum Freiberg), M Cox (MMTA)
Because there is no exploration and little process technology development for metals when their by-production fully satisfies demand, by-productresources and reserves are consistently underestimated. Assessment methods that take resource or reserve estimates as inputs tend therefore to
exaggerate supply risks associated with by-products. For the same reason, claims as to whether current by-products will ever be economicallymined as a main product could be highly speculative(1).

DEFINITION OF RESOURCES AND RESERVES—JORC
A mineral resource is a concentration of material that hasreasonable prospects of economic recovery. A mineralreserve implies technical feasibility and economic viability
and ALL modifying factors have been considered (Fig. 1).
To quote a resource and / or reserve, considerable work has
to have been done. In the case of most by-products, theymay (or may not) be known in the deposit, but rarely has any
detailed metallurgical processing work (modifying factor)
been done—hence, they will never appear in reserve andonly occasionally in resource statements. This may limit thepromotion of the reserve for investments or will indicate
higher investment costs and / or requires longer to reacha break-even position.
Figure 1: General Relationship between Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (1)MAJOR METALS—e.g. copper (Cu)
For major metals, resources and reserves are reasonably well described, but as some elements are produced mostly as by-products fromproduction of a major commodity, their appearance in resource and reserve statements is much more problematic. Copper ores provide a good
example. Many important elements are produced as by-products from copper production (Fig. 2). Over 80% of total world production of rhenium(Re), selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te) is produced as a by-product from primary copper production. Most, if not all, of these by-product(elements) will not have featured at all in reserve statements prepared at the relevant feasibility studies required pre-mine start up. Whilst the
major metals are reasonably well known, it is a different story for minor metals. Resource, reserve and even basic production data can be scarceor not available.
The BGS and the USGS publish World Mineral Production
statistics (most recently available for 2012 and 2014
respectively). However, reserves data are dynamic andwill change with time. In essence reserves may beconsidered a working inventory of a mining company’s
supply of an economically extractable mineralcommodity. The USGS has now discontinued the
publication of its reserve base data.(3)Reserves will only ever be a relatively small proportion of
the known resources. Future supplies of minerals will,
Figure 2: By-product Elements Associated with Copper Productionsin the very short term, be derived from reserves.
In the mid to long term, however, they will be derived from currently undiscovered resources, in deposits that will be discovered in the future andmaterial recycled from current in-use stocks, or minerals in waste disposal sites. This situation leads to seemingly anomalous results. For
example, in 1970, identified and undiscovered world copper resources were estimated to contain 1.6 billion tons of copper, with reserves of about
280 million tons of copper. Between 1970 and 2011 about 400 million tons of copper have been produced worldwide, but world copper reserves in2011 were estimated to be 690 million tons—more than double those of 1970.
(2)

16

Production statistics are generally more reliable than ‘reserve’ data. The BGS now publishes data on 73 commodities (Ref: World Mineral
Production 2008-2012 Centenary edition(4)) compared with 39 commodities in the original data set. Many of the commodities that havebeen added might be termed ‘technology metals’ and are critical to new technologies, such as use in clean energy production, modern
communications and computing—but it is incorrect to regard the commodities themselves as being ‘new’. The BGS data are available forsome metals commonly produced as a by-product of a major metal commodity, but in some cases are absent, for example, indium dataconsist of refined metal production data only, and no data are given for mined ore production, and even with these data, most arepresented as estimated values only.

MINOR METALS—e.g. tin (Sn), tungsten (W), indium (ln)Given this background, it is not surprising that some of the best available data for reserves and resources are those produced bycompanies involved with the mining, processing or refining of these by-product elements.
Data are provided below for world deposits containing indium (Fig. 3)(5) and tin (Fig. 4)(5).

Figure 3: World Indium Deposits(5)Figure 4: World Tin Deposits(6)These ore data originate from Anglo Saxony Mining(5,6), and the indium resources will only represent those that are known(i.e., predominantly Sn deposits in which chemical analysis for In was carried out). They do not represent, in any way, world resources(or reserves) for indium.

Figure 5: Comparison global W deposits —High Grade Resource(7)Figure 6: Tonnage-Grade diagram for Sn; Kasbah Resources(8)Similar bubble diagrams (Figs. 5-6) are commonly presented for main commodities such as WO3(7) and Sn(8) which tend to be a major
component of the ore, however, almost certainly these will also appear as by-products in other ores and will certainly be underrepresented in both resource and reserve data.
Once again these bubble diagrams for WO3 and Sn were created by mining companies, based on their in-house archives and probably
reflect the best available data. Metals such as indium (In) and tungsten (W) are included on the list of 20 Critical Raw Materials,
17and care has to be taken when evaluating the resource and reserve base for these commodities. Premier African Mineral (PAM) who
produced the bubble diagram for W (Fig. 5) has not investigated the presence of co-existing by-product metals such as Sc, In, Ga, Ge, etc. atall. Indeed, these have been rarely, if at all, analysed for by PAM. Hence, there may be significant unreported inventories of these byproducts associated with the deposits quoted in the diagram. A very obvious example is that of Sn and W hosting considerable by-products.
The geological setting of Sn and W, in particular, means that a range of other by-product metals / elements could be present, and often
these potential by-products are not included in Reserve Statements and hence cannot show in financial evaluations.

CASE STUDYThe Tellerhäuser Tin Project is located in Germany and being evaluatedby Anglo Saxony Mining. A resource (Sn) estimate was prepared in 2015
by Simon Tear of H&S Consultants out of Brisbane, Australia.
It is interesting to note that the resource estimate grade / tonnage
curve produced in Figure 7(5) only takes into account Sn. The
economics may be significantly different, thereby allowing lower cut off
grades, if by-products (especially indium) were taken into account.
The resource (and subsequent reserves) will be totally different if all
valuable by-products are included. However, to do this, it is likely thatnew processing techniques will be required, especially innovativemineral processing technologies to separate the different mineralogical(chemical) constituents of the ore. Process flow sheets for by-products
must be economically viable in their own right and ‘contribute’ tomining minor metals, but not vice versa. This still requires extensive
R&I work.
European R&I into mineral processing has been generally lacking in thelast 20 years, due in part to the reduced size of the European mining
sector and decline of mining / mineral processing taught at universities
and colleges. For example, in the UK, 30 years ago mineral processing
was taught at the Royal School of Mines (RSM—London Imperial
College), Camborne School of Mines (CSM, Cornwall), Birmingham
University, Leeds University, Nottingham University and Cardiff
University. Whereas only really CSM (now as part of the University of
Exeter) retains significant mineral processing teaching capability.

Figure 7: Tellerhäuser case study (5)The EU call topic SC5-ll-2015: New

Solutions for Sustainable Production
for Raw Materials, Flexible Processing
attempted to re-address this situation,and one of the successful projects
attracting EU funding was FAME
(Figs. 8-9)(9).
An objective of FAME is to help
maintain skills, especially mineralprocessing expertise, within Europe toenable exploitation of complex ores.
These skills are exactly what will beneeded to enable exploitation of all
valuable components (i.e., by-productrecovery) from ores in a sustainable
mining context.

Figure 8: FAME Objectives

18

Figure 9: FAME Consortium Activities

CONCLUSIONS
Reasonably robust resource / reserve estimates exist for the major metals, e.g. Cu. However, many of these ‘major’ metal producers arealso significant producers of minor metal by-products. Whether these by-products are shown in reserve statements is dependent upon anumber of factors, especially whether they are actively explored for and whether viable process flow sheets exist so that the economically
viable recovery of the minor element can be proven. If by-production fully satisfies demand, there is no active exploration, and resources
and reserves are simply not discovered and reported at rates comparable to those of major metals (10). Similarly, if no viable process flow
sheet exists, a reserve (and in some instances a resource) can not be quoted to an international standard such as JORC.
For ore deposits where there is no dominant major metal, the position is slightly different to that of the majors. The grade/tonnage
relationship and life of mine relationship is far more complex, and it is often much more difficult to demonstrate economic viability andhence, quote reserves.
Whilst utilisation of all components in ores represents the most sustainable approach to mining, it is clear that without other incentives(for example a change in government policies), many of the minor metals (by-products) will not appear in reserve estimations, as theirfinancial and technical viabilities are often not proven. Furthermore novel, or innovative, process flow sheets are often required to recover
all the potential metals of value (i.e. enable recovery of all potential by-products). Until enhanced, flexible mineral processing options havebeen developed, as well as in some instances improved refining techniques (especially with respect to smelting technology), many potential
sources of by-products will not be realised. Without improvements to the process at both the mineral processing (beneficiation) as well as
the metal extraction (smelting and refining) stage, to ensure effective recovery, by-products are unlikely to appear in reserve estimates.
This situation may become crucial in attracting investors if prices of by-product metals continue to rise, or by-product metals will become
even more strategic.
There are current EU initiatives in the Horizon 2020 programme designed to address some of the (mineral) processing and metallurgicalchallenges but, perhaps, different financial / policy scenarios will be required before resource and reserve estimates reflect accurately theactual availability of many by-product metals. Currently estimates must therefore be treated with caution and will under-estimate
resources and reserves of these metals.
REFERENCES
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:

The JORC Code 2012 Edition, Prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of the Australasian IMM, Australian Inst. of Geoscientists and Mineral Council of Australia.
Copper Alliance (http://sustainablecopper.org/about-copper/33-more-than-copper.html)
Resource Data: the Providers perspective (USGS) - J. Hammarstrom. (http://www.euromines.org/events/2015-10-14-mineral-resources-lcia-mapping-path-forward)
World Mineral Production 2008-2012 British Geological Survey, T.J. Brown et all. 2014.
Presentation by Anglo Saxony Mining (Saxore / Treliver Minerals), ITRI Conference Shanghai 2015.
Internal presentation by Anglo Saxony Mining
Premier African Minerals (www.premierafricanminerals.com)
Kasbah Resources Presentation, ITRI Conference Shanghai 2015
FAME (www.fame-project.eu)
Drielsma J, Russell-Vaccari A, Drnek T, Brady T, Weihed P, Mistry M, Perez Simbor L (2015) Mineral Resources in Life Cycle Impact Assessment – Defining the Path
Forward. Int J Life Cycle Assess (DOI 10.1007/s11367-015-0991-7)

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