MIRO - A History from 1972

Origin

The idea was conceived in 1968 by Maurice Cahalan, Research Co-ordinator at the Rio Tinto Zinc Group (RTZ). Cahalan was approached by Robert Pryor of Rio Tinto Patino for financial support for a project he was undertaking with The Royal School of Mines. Cahalan organized support from both RTZ companies and several companies from outside the group. It was during a discussion at this time with Maurice Mawby, chairman of Conzinc Rio Tinto that attention was drawn to AMIRA (the Australian Mineral Research Association) who had been organising collaborative research for many years, of which Mawby was also President.

During his presidency of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM), Cahalan initiated a series of discussions amongst members of the mining industry concerning the absence of a body similar to AMIRA. These discussions ultimately led to the creation of the Mineral Industry Research Organisation (MIRO), a company limited by guarantee.

The Founding Corporate Members were:

  • Charter Consolidated Limited

  • Consolidated Gold Fields Limited

  • English China Clays limited

  • IMI Refiners Limited

  • Johnson Matthey Chemicals Limited

  • London Tin Corporation Limited

  • Power Gas Limited

  • The Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation

  • RST International Metals Limited

  • Selection Trust Limited

  • Shell International Petroleum Company Limited

  • Tarmac Roadstone Holdings Limited

  • Union Corporation (Uk) Limited

  • Woodhall Duckham Limited

MIRO activities commenced with a council meeting on the 19th September 1972. It was believed that MIRO could perform two important functions:

  • To organise and manage collaborative research projects, and

  • To provide a forum for the mineral industry to discuss technological and related topics.


Membership subscriptions were set at a modest level so as not to act as a barrier to companies with moderate means. Maurice Cahalan was appointed the first president and within a year two research projects had been identified and Mr Bill Nokes appointed Executive Officer. At a further council meeting it was decided that MIRO’s role in the research should be that of scientific control and supervision.


Progression

MIRO grew steadily throughout the 1970s, and towards the end of the decade several factors combined to increase the pace of MIRO’s development. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) helped significantly in initiating funding for several important projects, and the European Union announced its intentions of funding research related to primary raw materials. Due to the latter MIRO acquired a new significance in providing a UK industry view for achieving effective EEC programmes.

In 1982, the MIRO council, recognising the need for effective procedures for day to day operations, subsequently delegated authority to an executive committee. Neil Roberts was appointed new Chief Executive Officer. Early 1987 saw a significant landmark as an operational headquarters was established at Lichfield in the Midlands. By 1994 the membership had grown to 92, including affiliates, a membership category created to reflect the growing need to provide opportunities for companies whose main activities were related but not totally linked the extraction sector, but who still wished to benefit from MIRO’s networks. The organisation now had four Project Managers and took over responsibility for its own financial administration from Rio Tinto. The late 1990s saw an increasing number of projects being funded by EC programmes

On the retirement of Neil Roberts in 2001, Stephen Foster was appointed Director and the organisation went through a period of reorganisation, which saw it move from Lichfield to Leeds.


Today

In September 2002 the MIRO Council elected its current President John O’Reilly, Head of Technology at Rio Tinto Plc, who has a wealth of experience in both the operational and technological aspects of the global minerals industry. Today’s MIRO council is made up of a wide selection of industry members, including representatives from the British Aggregates Association, Outokumpu, Anglo American, Tarmac, Singleton Birch, IMERYS and BHP Billiton, reflecting the range of metals, industrial minerals and aggregates which it covers. The day-to-day activities are now controlled by two Executive Directors Stephen Foster (Development), and Gordon P Riddler (Operations) who was appointed in September 2003.

From MIRO’s first year of existence when it ran two projects totalling a modest £15,000 p.a., by 2003 MIRO was managing over twenty projects amounting to £20 million, including two large programmes funded through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF - England). MIRO currently distributes the funds through the Mineral Industry Sustainable Technology programme (MIST) and also manages another tranché of ALSF funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister through the Sustainable Land Won and Marine Dredged Aggregate Minerals Programme (SAMP). These programmes operate on a call for bids basis, and the aim of the programmes is to mitigate impacts on the environment from the necessary extraction of aggregates - sand, stone and gravel.

Today MIRO exists, as it was originally conceived, to assist its members in identifying needs for new technology, facilitating and managing collaborative research for developing innovative techniques, meeting the challenges of profitable mineral exploration, and extraction and production using environmentally acceptable techniques. However it has recognised and reacted to the changing needs of and issues which affect those members. It has also had to take account of legislation affecting the sector. Therefore the project portfolio has expanded to cover environmental and waste issues, which are high on the European agenda.

  
   

 

  

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