Now in its 38th year, the Minerals Investment Week will look to the future of the industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities that rapidly advancing technology and volatile markets present. Image: Informa

 

BY GERARD MCARTNEY

 

FROM 20-21 March, the Minerals Investment Week will see global representatives from minerals and mining companies meet at Crown Perth to discuss the future of mining.
The five conferences participating included the Global Iron Ore & Steel Forecast Conference, the Mineral Sands Conference, the Lithium & Battery Metals Conference, the Asia Pacific Nickel Conference and the Pilbara Copper and Gold Forum.

Global Iron Ore & Steel

Iron ore and steel industry leaders from around the world will meet to discuss and consider the outlook for 2019 and into the future.
WA Mining minister Bill Johnston would open the conference, followed by keynote addresses from a senior executive at BHP, and Fortescue Metals Group chief operating officer Greg Lilleyman .

“With numerous new mine and expansion projects about to inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the Pilbara region, the Global Iron Ore & Steel Forecast Conference 2019 will focus on exploring the iron ore boom 2.0,” conference organisers, Informa said.
The focus would be on topics such as iron ore and steel market outlooks and updates; the creation of value in a changing market; China’s changing iron ore demands and the restructuring of the Chinese steel industry; and the practical aspects of managing the ‘iron ore boom 2.0’.

FIFO and worker’s camps, engineering requirements, skills shortages and cost inflation will also be discussed at length.

Individual seminars would range from a panel discussion about the changing role of iron ore quality, to the five-year future of steel and iron ore, to a lecture on the influences of innovation and electric vehicles on steel demand, and more.

Mineral Sands

 

The 20th annual conference would offer analysis of the latest market updates, where industry heavyweights weigh in on major developments and outlooks.

The two day event offered “exclusive insights intoTio2 and zircon.”

Informa said key topics would include project and operation updates, logistics and infrastructure, export trends, raising capital and project financing.
Opening with a lecture by ARTIKOL (UK) managing director Reg Adams  titled Mineral Sands in an Age of Uncertainty and Volatility, the conference would continue to dissect and explore the future of mineral sands through individual seminars on the global zircon and Tio2 market, the Chinese market, case studies of the Fingerboards mineral sands project, and the Avonbank demonstration plant, to a closing lecture by Dr Kathie McGregor titled Processing Options for Full Value Recovery from Titanomagnetite.

“With a positive outlook for mineral sands products, this well-established event is the only Australian conference offering a comprehensive analysis of the latest industry updates,” Informa said.

Lithium and Battery Metals

 

After the success of last year’s inaugural event, the Lithium and Battery Metals Conference is back to cut through the oversupply-undersupply rhetoric and discuss what the future holds for the battery sector.

“A global shift is underway as countries legislate an end to internal combustion vehicle sales and the automotive industry prepares for the next generation of electric vehicles to hit the roads with 2025 pegged as the tipping point in EV uptake as their costs dip below conventional vehicles, causing demand to surge,” Informa said.
Day one would give a comprehensive breakdown of the major battery commodities, lithium, graphite, cobalt, copper and nickel, and where they fit into the current market.

There would be a “roundtable discussion from leading analysts on the current state of the sector, demand trends, oversupply vs undersupply, and what we can expect over the coming year,” Informa said.
Day two would focus on the future of electric vehicles and clean energy.

There would also be a notable lecture from Dr Xiao Lin, associate professor of the institute of process engineering at the Chinese Academy of Science focusing on novel technologies and the whole life cycle of lithium, “from ore utilisation to spent battery recycling,” Informa said.
The outlook for the raw materials critical for electric vehicles, and the future of lithium, would be discussed at length by some of the world’s leading lithium and battery metals experts.

Asia-Pacific Nickel

 

For the first time at Minerals Investment Week, there would be a conference discussing the emerging division of nickel into two distinct commodity markets.
“As energy companies move towards batteries for large-scale storage and the automotive industry prepares for the next generation of electric vehicles to hit the market, the nickel industry has seen a surge in demand,” Informa said.

“This, combined with the traditional steel market continuing to strengthen, has resulted in the nickel industry in the Asia Pacific region hurtling towards a new era.”

The conference would respond to the state of flux that the nickel market has found itself in as the growing demand for long-term and large scale battery storage competes with the traditional stainless steel market.
Day one would look at the impact that the changing market and the possible emergence of two distinct commodity markets would have on the future of nickel.
Day two would run through a case study of the West Musgrave project and talk about collaboration, give market updates and close with a lecture on the global trends and environmental issues in nickel mining.

 

Pilbara Copper and Gold

 

The inaugural forum is a one-day event dedicated specifically to the Paterson province in the Pilbara.

“This is the only forum which will provide the latest update on activities in the Paterson region,” Informa said.

The Pilbara Copper and Gold forum would offer a deep dive into the exploration challenges and look at the possibilities of airborne electromagnetics.

 It would also give an equity market viewpoint of the Paterson range, an outlook on copper, and discuss the role that electric vehicles have in driving the demands of the future.

“It’s no longer just buzz and speculation around the Paterson province – the region is a hotbed of exploration, and interest has been well and truly reignited,” Informa said.

“This one-day forum [will] ascertain the real from the hype and discuss the possibility that

the Paterson province could potentially be the next Mt Isa,” Informa said.
The speakers at the forum included West Wit Mining exploration director Dr Andrew Tunks, Carawine Resources managing director David Boyd  and CSIRO senior research scientist David Annettesat among many more.

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