The second Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Research Advisory Panel Workshop will be held on the 11th April 2006 at the National Coal Mining Museum for England, Wakefield.

The purpose of this RAP is to develop and discuss the feedback and research ideas raised by attendees at the last meeting held on 27th September 2005. The aim of this meeting is to allow industry stakeholders to develop these ideas into collaborative research projects that they require, and prioritise the development of the identified themes.

The day will include presentations from leading research providers in the area of aggregates and industrial minerals. The presentations will be grouped into four themes which will be then mirrored in the breakout session which will take place in the afternoon session. The four themes are;
geoscience, extraction and processing, application technologies and sustainability.

The programme is designed specifically for industry and registration is free to MIRO Members; non-members wishing to attend are required to pay a nominal fee of £50 per delegate to cover administration costs. Numbers are limited so please respond as soon as possible to reserve your place. A detailed programme will be forwarded only to delegates registered on or before March 31st 2006.

International Mining and Metals industries Research Advisory Panel (IMMRAP)

MIRO is pleased to announce that the Inaugural Meeting of MIRO’s International Mining and Metals Research Advisory Panel workshop has been rescheduled and will take place on Tuesday 25th April 2006, at Rio Tinto Plc, 6 St James’s Square, London.
The aim of the IMMRAP workshop is to identify and develop collaborative research opportunities that address the future needs of the Mining and Metals sectors in responding to the changes in the business environment.

The Workshop will consist of a number of presentations followed by breakout sessions where a number of selected themes will be discussed. The Workshop will conclude with a review of the outcomes and the creation of an action plan which will be circulated to member representatives for comment and development. The workshop will be held on a six monthly basis.

The structure of the workshop will mirror MIRO's successful Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Research Advisory Panel (AIMRAP) Workshop, (the sister RAP to the IMMRAP) which was attended by approximately 40 industry and research representatives. The programme will be of interest to industry, research providers and relevant government departments. Registration is free to MIRO Members. Non-members wishing to attend are required to pay a fee of £100 per delegate to cover administration costs. Numbers are limited so please respond as soon as possible to reserve your place. A detailed programme will be forwarded only to delegates registered on or before March 31st 2006.

MIRO Appoints New Acting Director

Subsequent to the standing down of Gordon Riddler as MIRO Executive Director, MIRO has appointed a new acting Director as of 1st January 2006. Alan Gibbon, Proposal Development Manager and Project Manager with MIRO, will assume this role from 1st January 2006 until MIRO recruits a new long-term replacement for Gordon Riddler.

Alan spent 20 years in precious metal extraction and refining RTD with Johnson Matthey before joining MIRO in 1993. Alan specialises in ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metal recovery and recycling, mineral wastes processing and re-use, process modelling and environmental engineering.

MIRO Executive Director Stands Down.

MIRO Executive Director, Gordon Riddler stood down from his Directorship on 31st December 2005 due to personal reasons. Gordon, who had been a MIRO Director for two years, will still participate in MIRO projects in a project management capacity. MIRO would like to take this opportunity to thank Gordon for his dedication and leadership during his two years as Director.

Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Research Advisory Panel (AIMRAP)

September 27th of September saw the return of the successful MIRO Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Research Advisory Panel known as AIMRAP. Taking place at the British Geological Survey offices in Keyworth, Nottingham, the event was attended by approximately 40 industry and research guests.

The objective of the event was reflected in the keynote presentation delivered by MIRO Vice President Bill Barrett titled “The research needs of the Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Industries in Modern Europe”, the aim to create an atmosphere when members of the industry could discuss the issues affecting the industry today and tomorrow.

Six excellent presentations follow; kicking of with a thought provoking talk by Les Balmer of NRS technologies “New Applications to uplift, Communition and Separation of Mineral and Aggregate Materials” this was ideally complemented by Kip Jeffrey of the University of Leicester, who took a futuristic look at the industry in his talk “New Generation Aggregates”. A change of pace then ensued with a talk by Bobbie Millar from the University of Leeds challenging the industry to become involved in the opening of past and present mineral sites to the public and the use of these sites in the education system in “Ecton: An Educational Resource”

After a brief coffee break to recharge the batteries, the second session was kicked of by Clive Mitchell from BGS discussion the important topic of quarry fines in “Quarry Fines: Minimisation and Waterless Removal”. Another controversial issue was discussed by Alan Thompson, ALSF Science Co-ordinator, in his talk “What has the ALSF Land Based Research Ever Done for Us?” which presented research which has been undertaken to deem to effectiveness of the research undertaken by the projects funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. The morning session was completed by Bill Birch from University of Leeds with an enthusiastic presentation on “Full Scale Quarry Blasting Project into the use of Electronic Detonators to Control the Vibrations from Blasting”.

The session after lunch was used for four breakout sessions or as afternoon chair called it “research speed dating”. Four groups covered topics, geoscience, extraction and processing, application technologies and sustainability. The findings of these sessions will be available to MIRO members in the near future.

The Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF) Technical Conference,

Was recently attended by MIRO personnel. This conference organised by Coastal Management for Sustainability (CSM), was held in London on the 6th July to present the marine work currently funded under the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF).

19 presentations were given throughout the day, grouped into four broad themes; Habitats and Mapping; Historic Environment; Impact and Recovery and Risk Assessment and Management. Additionally, a range of informative posters were displayed.

Four research projects funded through the SAMP programme were presented:

• ‘Outer Bristol Channel Marine Habitat Study’ Ceri James, British Geological Survey.

• ‘Building GIS and Environmental Data Management Capabilities of the Sea Fisheries Committees’ Paul Eastwood, CEFAS

• ‘Seabed Prehistory’ Stuart Leather, Wessex Archaeology

• ‘Dredging Lane Management – CFD Simulations’ Jon Rees, CEFAS

The conference was well attended and provided an excellent opportunity for the dissemination of the work currently being undertaken. It also provided a forum to increase feedback, discussion and the collaboration of marine research.

Further details of SAMP funded projects can be found at http://www.odpmaggregatefund.co.uk

For further details on marine ALSF projects, please visit
http://alsf.defra.gov.uk/
http://www.alsf-mepf.org.uk
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk
http://www.english-nature.org.uk

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MIRO welcomes two new members

MIRO is proud to welcome two new members, Camborne School of Mines and Omya UK Limited.

Camborne School of Mines, part of the University of Exeter in Cornwall offers a portfolio of undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree programmes related to the understanding of and management of the Earth’s natural processes, resources and the environment.

Omya Uk Limited is a supplier of white minerals and chemicals both in the UK and around the world as part of Omya AG, a multi-national based in Switzerland.

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MIRO Exhibits at Hillhead 2005

MIRO was present at the Hillhead 2005 exhibition at Buxton in June. The event was attended by a variety of Industry representatives; other exhibitors included Tarmac, JCB, Caterpillar, WRAP, Shell Bitumen, Quarry Products Association and MIRO member the British Aggregates Association.

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MIRO Annual Golf Day

The MIRO Annual Golf day was re-established this year taking place on June 7th at Stonebridge Golf Club. Both Industry and research participants took part in the hotly fought contest.
The winner, receiving a crystal decanter and tumbler set was

Kirk Blackburn from Lafarge Aggregates. Other winners on the day included Phil Hurley of Anglo American (longest drive) and Simon Blake, Aggregate Industries (nearest the pin). The day was rounded off with a three course meal and the MIRO AGM. MIRO would like to thank all the participants for a wonderful day and look forward to seeing everyone next year.

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Mineral Industry Sustainable Technology Programme, 21 New Projects Commissioned

Twenty One new research projects have been commissioned following the ALSF MIST Programmes fourth call for bids. These projects with a combined value of £4.66m range from education and training to quarry dewatering research.

Under the new Mineral Industry Sustainable Technology Programme (MIST), now running until March 2007, twenty one new research projects with a value of £4.66million have been commissioned in response to the fourth call for bids. Forty one applications were received for this call, nearly 50% more than were received for the third call for bids in 2003, reflecting the increased awareness and success of the previous programme. These environmental research and development projects, listed below, commenced on 1st October 2004 and vary in length from 6 months to 30 months.

The projects address issues in each of the five themes of MIST: environmental assessment procedures and tools, impact mitigation and management, site design, operation and closure, knowledge and technology transfer and optimising resource value.

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Sustainable Land won and Marine Dredged Aggregates Minerals Programme, 19 New projects Announced

MIRO is pleased to announce that 19 new projects, with a total value of £3.87 million, have been commissioned by the Sustainable Land Won and Marine Dredged Aggregate Minerals Programme (SAMP), which is supported through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) and managed by MIRO. This represents a 20% increase in funded projects from the first phase (2002-2004).

The projects will run from October 2004 to March 2007, varying from 6 months to 30 months in length, and cover the five themes of SAMP; Impacts on the marine environment, Environmental assessment and aggregates, Community involvement, Information for stakeholders and Environmental management for SMEs.

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Andy Tyler joined the MIRO team as Technical Manager in October 2004, following some 20 years management experience within the mining, quarrying and industrial minerals sectors of the industry. Andy graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Mining Geology at the University of Wales before completing a Master of Science in Industrial Mineralogy (with Distinction) at the University of Hull funded by a NERC scholarship. The experience and skills gained from senior management positions in a number of leading international companies enables Andy to bring his sales & marketing, operational and business development skills to the organisation, these have been augmented by the recent completion of a Master of Business Administration (with Distinction) where his dissertation focused on exploring the relationship between stakeholders and organisations. In addition to being a Member of the Institute of Quarrying and the Chartered Management Institute he has extensive links with the international minerals industry.
Upon joining the organisation Andy commented... “I am delighted to have the opportunity to join the professional team at MIRO and assist the organisation realise its strategy of being a leading international facilitator of minerals collaborative research and project management".

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