AJM's 14th Annual Mineral Sands Conference

The Australian Journal Mining's 13th annual Mineral Sands Conference, held in Melbourne on 12th-13th March 2013 was the key meeting place for Australia's Mineral Sands industry.

Delegates heard industry experts share their perspectives on the hot topic for the mineral sands industry - Zircon and Titanium pricing, demand and outlook trends.

Attracting 70 delegates, the two day program included a breadth of topical presentations which addressed updates on current mineral sands mining operations and prospects in Australia, a spotlight on two international prospects, environmental and community issues for mineral sands mining, plus presentations on technology and infrastructure.

Highlights from the event included:

• A regional keynote address from Chris brooks, Executive Director of Earth Resources Development which addressed Mineral sands in Victoria, new development focus and opportunities to access Victoria's mineral sands
• An international keynote address from the 'TiO2 Guru' Mr Reg Adams of ARTIKOL (UK).

Reg gained international recognition with his book "Titanium & Titanium Dioxide" commissioned by the "Financial Times" in 1984, which was followed up by the "World TiO2 Industry Review".

Reg joined the conference from the UK to share his extensive knowledge and insights on the "TiO2 on the supercycle track" covering the following points:

- China's growth & the commodities supercycle
- A tight feedstock market & the new pricing era
- Ripples downstream: customers' strategic reactions
- Innovations that may affect future demand
- Long-term prospects for titanium pigment, metal & other end-use sectors
- Will there be just enough feedstock or far too much?

• TZMI's Zayn Marlowe continued the theme of pricing and outlook addressing the Titanium and Zircon Value Chain, he shared that by 2015 TZMI's predictions were that pigment demand would grow to 6.1 million tonnes.
• Mine Manager for Iluka's Jacinth-Ambrosia (JA) Mine - Shane Tilka shared an operational perspective on the single largest global source of zircon supply and how the mine is asserting operational flexibility in response to current market conditions. He also highlighted the mines capability to deploy a rapid production response as market demand returns.
• The afternoon of day one focussed on environmental and community issues for the Mineral Sands mining industry. The afternoon session began with an opening presentation from Michael Priest of Crystal Mining. He shared the successful rehabilitation results that were achieved at Crystal's Ginkgo Mine and spoke openly about the process used to achieve the legacy of a leading practice success story.
• Carolyn Ballint of Coffey Environment hosted a panel discussion asking: what is the true cost of obtaining and maintaining a social licence to operate? Joined by Shane Tilka (Iluka), Michael Priest (Crystal Mining) and Trevor Matthews (MZI Resources). The trio discussed the importance of managing relationships with regulators, how reinforcing a positive image for the community and leaving a long term positive legacy for the local community were of high importance.
• Day two focussed on project updates from across Australia from Gunson Resources, Astron's Donaldson project included two international case studies from Latin Resources' Chris Gale on the Peru Iron sands operation and Rick Sharp of Mineral Deposits gave an update on the African prospect.
• Delegates were able to relax, network and discuss business over refreshments in the exhibition space, where they could visit exhibition stands from Hatch, Nalco, Eriez Magnetics and Victorian Government - Department of Primary Industries.

Delegate's comments:

"I enjoyed the event and was very interested in the projects coming on line especially the overseas projects"

"It was a very useful conference, and a great chance to meet others within the industry. Looking forward to the next one in 2014"

AJM welcomes your feedback on topics or suggestions for the 14th annual Mineral Sands Conference. Please contact Kim Aldridge, Conference Manager by email on: kim.aldridge@informa.com.au