Innovation has to start somewhere

Without formal education, Arthur Wilfley developed two types of gravity concentration tables, an ore-roasting furnace, a centrifugal pump to transfer heavy, abrasive slurries, and a pump of unique design for handling corrosive solutions. The company that he founded in 1919 still exists today. Wilfley was not just an inventor; he was a mine developer, mine manager and entrepreneur.

The industry today needs people like Wilfley to bring together innovation and a sound understanding of mining and mineral processing, but they seem very thin on the ground. Perhaps we are over-educated and pigeon-holed too early in our careers. Perhaps we think we know the answers already and don’t do the hands-on R&D. Here are some things that are urgently needed:

• Continuous breakage of hard rock.
• Small-scale automated transportation of broken rock.
• Low energy comminution of hard rock to mineral separation sizes.

These are three aspects of a new approach to mining and processing that will be with us some time in the next few decades. Much of the fundamental research has already been done, but very few people are aware of it. Efforts by large research organizations have not taken us very far forward. The breakthroughs, I think, will come from the Arthur Wilfleys of this world, working in their backyard laboratories and workshops.

Around 36% of the energy used by the mining industry is consumed by comminution equipment. The cyclic drill and blast approach to hard rock has been with us since medieval times. Trucks and diggers have been getting bigger since Bingham Canyon was developed in 1906. All of this must change, because the profligate use of energy that characterized the twentieth century is no longer acceptable. There has been a lot of focus on taking people out of the mining environment, but little on reducing energy consumption by the people who could make it happen. Some good ideas fail to get a hearing; others are shunted off to the environmental department of large companies where no-one appreciates the technological opportunity.

If you see me in my back yard thoughtfully hitting a large rock with a hammer, you will understand that innovation has to start somewhere. Here is a hint – breaking rock is all about velocity. The military know a lot more about this than we miners do, but they aren’t talking.