Mineral Processing Technologies, Challenges and Perspectives

Minerals are an essential component of the nation’s resources base towards economic development. Mineral beneficiation presents opportunities for development of new entrepreneurs in large and small mining industries. The developing countries need to concentrate for exploitation of their resources for national development in view of the modern and innovative researches and technological advances within an environment of sustainability consciousness in new world trade regime, etc. Developing countries will play an important role in that expansion on the demand side, as well as on the supply side, given shifts in exploration and mining development investments. For this reason, there is a need for policy makers, scientists, technologists, academics and other industry experts to come together and assess ways and means to realize the potential of the mineral resource base in developing countries and its contribution to industrial development. In this context, the Centre for Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) had organised a series of three International Workshops and the latest 3rd International Workshop on ‘Mineral Processing and Beneficiation’ was held in Harare, Zimbabwe during 11-14 September 2014 jointly with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe. The workshop was attended by 110 participants from 15 countries representing Afghanistan, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia and of which 89 delegates were from the host country Zimbabwe. The present book, edited by Dr. G. Padmanabham is a follow up of Harare Workshop comprising 14 scientific and technical papers contributed by the experts from 12 countries. The book is expected to be useful to all the stakeholders in Mineral processing and beneficiation industry, from researchers to policy makers and government officials in the developing countries.