COM Future activities

12th SGA Biennial Meeting, 12–15th August 2013, Uppsala, Sweden
Session title: S2.5 Ore mineralogy and geometallurgy (scientific sponsor:
Commission on Ore Mineralogy, COM, of IMA)

Convenors: Pertti Lamberg & Federica Zaccarini.

Keynote speaker: Nigel Cook.

Description of the session: One of the biggest challenges for mining industry in the future is to fulfill the increasing global demand for mineral and element commodities and to meet the sustainability requirements. Good mineralogical knowledge forms a basis both in modern mineral exploration and in effective extraction of the ore body. In collecting this information new resource characterization and mineralogical methodologies are essential tools. This session focuses on multiple aspects of ore mineralogy and geometallurgy, including 1) ore mineral genesis, 2) quantitative mineralogical characterization of the ore, 3) geometallurgical modeling focusing on ore mineralogy, 4) environmental assessment based on mineralogy. Contributions that discuss these aspects of ore minerals are strongly encouraged.

Please find more information about the meeting in the second circular at this web address

AGENDA: Business Meeting August 21st, 2010, 15.00 B 17.00 Room 1-819, ELTE campus, SOUTH building Agenda 2010

COM will sponsor scientifically a short course in Leoben (Austria) dealing with mineralogy, geochemistry and ore deposits of Platinum group elements (possible date: from 28th August to 1st September 2010 - after the IMA General Meeting of Budapest). Professors Federica Zaccarini and Aberra Mogessie (two of the Austrian coordinators of this course) will keep IMA-COM informed about further progress in the organization. This short course would be connected with a session on Platinum group minerals during the IMA meeting of Budapest in 2010.

Dear COM representatives,

During the COM business meeting in Edinburgh, it was decided that COM should take a more active role in ensuring quality control of reported ore mineralogical data in the future. Proposed sets of guidelines for publishing of electron microprobe data etc. were to be prepared. This initiative did not progress as originally intended, because shortly after the Edinburgh meeting it became apparent that COM can, and should not, do this in isolation.

Committees of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) are already looking into certain aspects of microbeam analysis. Some countries are actively involved in developing (procedural) standards related to microbeam analysis, others are observing from the sidelines. The links below give a step by step tour to the web pages relevant for the committee on microbeam analysis.

Considering how important electron microprobe analysis as a technique is for mineralogists in general, and for ore mineralogists in particular, and further that these committees seem to be dominated by non-geoscientists, it should be in the interest of IMA in general, and COM in particular, to call on our members and representatives to get involved. Once the committees have done their work and procedures have been adopted, we all will be under increasing international pressure to comply. Therefore, we should make sure that the needs of mineralogists are looked after and their insights utilized to derive at the best procedures. We would like to encourage our members to get involved with their national committees wherever possible.

We would also like to call on all members of IMA and COM to PLEASE communicate factual or anecdotal evidence they may have about problems encountered in electron microprobe analysis of (ore) minerals (and ideally how to circumvent them) to either Roland Merkle rmerklepostino.up.ac.za or Nigel Cook (n.j.cooknhm.uio.no). Many of you know about the problems that can be created by choosing inappropriate standards (e.g. using monosulphide as standard for sulphur in disulphides, the non-linearity of absorption coefficients and consequently incorrect results in Au-Ag alloys, systematic differences in As if loellingite or arsenopyrite are used as standards etc.). This type of specialist knowledge is of paramount importance to designing procedural standards. Even if you feel an example is common knowledge - PLEASE communicate your insights - and PLEASE forward this others who may be interested....