EDITOR’S CHOICE
AWARD WINERS
ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING TEAM BEHIND REVOLUTIONARY
COPPER MINING TECHNOLOGY WINS
PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMY AWARD
A multidisciplinary team of engineers from
the University of Nottingham and Teledyne
e2v have been presented with this
year’s Colin Campbell Mitchell Award from
the Royal Academy of Engineering for
developing MicroHammer, a revolutionary
process for extracting copper from its
ore using microwave technology. The
team were presented with the prize at
the Academy’s AGM in London on 18
September.
The team, which includes Professor Sam
Kingman and Dr Chris Dodds from the
University of Nottingham and Dr Ewan
Livingstone, Paul Burleigh and David
English from Teledyne e2v, combined
their skills in microwave technology
and engineering to develop the largest
microwave processing system ever
constructed, capable of processing up to
3000 tonnes of rock per hour.
Copper is one of the world’s most widely
used metals, playing an integral role in
many sectors from construction to power
generation and transmission. Although
global demand is increasing rapidly,
with copper a vital material for nearly all
electrical devices, the quality of copper
reserves is in decline with both the
percentage of copper and the size of grains
found in ores decreasing.
Current extraction techniques require
enormous amounts of energy, with an
estimated 5% of the world’s electricity
used to fine grind rocks in mineral
processing plants. MicroHammer, which
uses microwave energy to separate copper
grains from the ore, reduces the energy
needed to extract copper by over 20% and
boosts production by almost a third.
By exposing rocks to powerful microwave
energy for a fraction of a second,
MicroHammer heats and expands the
copper grains, causing them to split from
the encasing rock. The microfractures,
which are smaller than the width of a
human hair, weaken the host rock and
make it possible to extract the copper
without completely grinding the ore.
30
PECM Issue 35
Using microwaves to create fractures in
mineral ores has been a topic of academic
study for several years, but presented
real challenges in demonstrating it was
possible at a commercial scale in a mining
environment.
Working with one of the world’s largest
metals and mining corporations, Rio
Tinto, who funded the project, the team
have designed a system that contains
and focuses hundreds of kilowatts of
microwave energy and can be safely used
in the harsh operating conditions of a mine.
The demonstration system processes over
150 tonnes of rock per hour, and, using
numerical simulation and experimental
validation, the team have demonstrated
this can be expanded to thousands of
tonnes per hour – the scale needed for
sustainable commercial use.
Professor Sam Kingman, the project’s
academic lead, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor
for the Faculty of Engineering at the
University of Nottingham, said: “Our
collaboration with Teledyne e2v has been
the key to unlocking the potential that
this technology has offered for decades,
but no one has been able to access due
to significant technical challenges. It
is a great honour to receive this award
which recognises the contributions of a
significant number of people both at the
University of Nottingham and at Teledyne
e2v. We are now well placed to take this
technology to market and deliver one of
the most significant impacts to mineral
processing since the development of froth
flotation”
Paul Burleigh, project lead at Teledyne
e2v, said: “It’s exciting to be part of a
team that has developed a technological
solution that will make a real difference
in creating sustainability in the supply of
materials that underpin economic and
social development across the globe.
Though receiving the award in person,
it’s important to remember that this is
on behalf of the wider team who have
delivered the innovative steps and
engineering solutions to the challenges
that have been overcome.”
Professor Raffaella Ocone FREng FRSE,
Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Awards Committee, said: “The tremendous
amounts of electricity needed to extract
copper from low grade sources has left
the mining industry in an unsustainable
position and in desperate need of a new
technological solution. The MicroHammer
process developed by the team from the
University of Nottingham and Teledyne
e2v is a tremendous breakthrough, not just
in saving energy but in helping to ensure
that copper supply meets global demand.
The achievements of the team make them
worthy winners of the Royal Academy
of Engineering’s Colin Campbell Mitchell
Award.”
The Colin Campbell Mitchell award
is awarded annually to an engineer
or small team of engineers who have
made an outstanding contribution to
the advancement of any field of UK
engineering.
www.raeng.org.uk