Hydrometallurgy for the Future

The world’s dependency on metals has become more evident with the growing demand for metals required to drive advancements in the technological and digital landscape and, the energy transition for a carbon neutral future. This growing demand however, implies that the metal extraction industry will need to play a significant role in providing the world with vast quantities of metals crucial in the building of the necessary infrastructure.

Furthermore, energy and water are two critical inputs in the hydrometallurgical process flowsheets and their increasing shortage suggests the need for the development of processes that take such challenges into consideration. A circular hydrometallurgy approach focusing on innovative research and developments around energy and resource efficient processes based on closing materials and resources loops can therefore, play an important role if the metal extraction sector is to meet the current and future global metal demands. In addition, advancements in the field of artificial intelligence can also allow for the use of innovative tools such as machine learning to better understand, predict and optimise hydrometallurgical processes in a smarter and sustainable manner.

The SAIMM Hydrometallurgy conference, 2024, will bring together internationally and locally recognized scientists and engineers from mining and metal producing companies, project design and implementation entities, equipment and reagent suppliers, research and academic institutions to discuss and share innovative technologies that can assist the global world in meeting the current and future metal demands.