The ALTA 2020 conference is shaping up nicely, with new opening and keynote speakers just announced for its 25th anniversary event.

Stedman Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of Future Battery Industries CRC (Australia), is set to open the conference with a paper titled, “A Research-Based Strategy for Establishing Australia as a Leading Player in the Emerging Global Battery Industry”.

Meanwhile, John Neale, Technical Specialist at Mintek (South Africa), is set to take on the nickel-cobalt-copper keynote with a talk titled: ‘Bioleaching of Nickel and Cobalt – The Progress and The Potential’.

The annual metallurgical event, to be held in Perth, Western Australia, on May 23-30, will also include a uranium-REE keynote from Darryl Butcher, Director of BDB Process (Australia). Butcher will present, ‘Review of Membrane Technology as a Process Tool’ at the event. The gold and precious metal keynote will come from Karel Osten, Independent Consultant at Mettko Pty Ltd (Australia), who will go some way to answering: ‘POX – Has it Reached its Full Potential, or is There Still Room for Improvement for Treating Refractory Gold Ores?’

The in-situ recovery keynote is yet to be announced, but Professor Peter Talbot, from the Institute for Future Environments at Queensland University of Technology (Australia), has the honour in the lithium and battery technology session. His paper is titled: ‘The Creation and Implications of Australia’s First Lithium-Ion Battery’.

For more information on ALTA 2020, follow the website here: www.altamet.com.au/conferences/alta-2020/

International Mining is a media sponsor of ALTA 2020