The winners of the CEEC International: Coalition for Minerals Efficiency 2022 CEEC medals were publicly announced in August and were formally presented during the 8th International Conference on Semi-Autogenous Grinding and High-Pressure Grinding Roll Technology 2023 (SAG 2023) in Vancouver. The medals were presented at the SAG conference gala dinner on Sept. 27 by Janine Herzig, CEEC International executive president and director, and Grant Ballantyne, CEEC director and chair of its technical advisory committee (TAC), which evaluates the medal applications.

The CEEC medal, which was launched in 2012, is awarded annually to authors of papers that showcase inventive approaches to advancing efficiency within the resources sector. While focused on energy efficiency in comminution for the first 10 years, the medal evaluation criteria were recently expanded to incorporate efficiencies in water, tailings and waste minimization and management. There are two categories of the medal: technical research and operations.

John Forster and Xinyi (Wendy) Tian from Sepro Mineral Systems accepted the 2022 CEEC medal for technical research, which was awarded for their paper “Microwave Heating Behaviour of Ores and Its Application to High-Power Microwave Assisted Comminution and Ore Sorting.” The paper was presented at the online International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) Asia-Pacific in August 2022, and its other authors were Adam Olmsted and Chris Pickles from Queen’s University, Darryel Boucher and Matthew Goldbaum from the University of Toronto, and Erin Bobicki from the University of Alberta.

This research delved into the application of microwave technology to improve the efficiency of ore processing, specifically focused on comminution and ore sorting. By leveraging the properties of microwaves, the paper showcased a prospective pathway to lower energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The TAC expressed admiration for the authors’ experimental work across an array of ores as well as for the potential industry-wide significance of their research.

“The medal has been awarded to a brilliant paper,” said Ballantyne at the award ceremony. “As well as microwave heating behaviours of ore, it also looked at the pre-weakening that happens with microwave addition, and the sorting of the ore that happens afterwards.”

The paper stemmed from the research into microwave technology the team conducted for the Crush It! Challenge, Natural Resources Canada’s comminution innovation contest, which it won in June 2022. “My team and I worked tirelessly for 27 months during the Crush It! Challenge on many different ores to achieve excellent results,” said Forster in an Aug. 16 press release that announced the CEEC medal for technical research. “To be recognized for this work, and to be awarded the CEEC medal, is an absolute honour.”

Related: Relatively small improvements in comminution and processing of minerals can lead to big environmental benefits

The 2022 CEEC medal for operations was presented to Anglo American’s Karina Arburo and Eriez Flotation’s Eric Wasmund for their paper “Commissioning a HydroFloat in a Copper Concentrator Application.” The paper’s other authors were Jaime Zuniga and Adrian McDonald from Anglo American, and Felipe Valdes and Jose Concha from Eriez Flotation.

The winning paper was published in the proceedings of the Copper 2022 conference, which took place in Chile in November 2022. The paper described the successful installation and operation of Eriez Flotation’s HydroFloat technology for coarse particle flotation in a copper concentrator circuit at Anglo American’s El Soldado operation in Chile.

“The winning paper describes a really interesting application at El Soldado,” said Ballantyne. “They installed the HydroFloat on the cyclone overflow, which was the first time it has been installed prior to conventional flotation in a copper concentrator. The paper is well worth the read.”

Herzig added: “This work by Anglo American and Eriez builds on the previous work conducted by Newcrest at its Cadia operation and published in 2019, expanding the application of the technology into gangue rejection prior to conventional flotation.”

In an Aug. 16 press release announcing the CEEC medal for operations, Arburo said: “It is wonderful to have industry recognition as testimony of the successful delivery of this world-first, full-scale application of coarse particle recovery in a gangue rejection mode, thanks to the combined team effort of many different teams within Anglo American, in Chile and globally.”

Nominations are now open for the 2023 CEEC medal, and can be submitted through the CEEC website.