Industrial Minerals magazine
Encyclopedia
Industrial Minerals magazine is a specialist, monthly publication, which covers all aspects of the non-metallic minerals industry (represented by its motto, "From mine to market"). IM's editorial office is based in London, UK.
(MB), which had previously covered the industrial applications of mineral sands.
Trevor Tarring MBE, the then-Metal Editor of MB, explained the story:
“IM was actually conceived in 1962. In those days Metal Bulletin was very active, covering the ups and downs of mineral sands prices as part of its ores coverage. I remember my late father being very pleased that the Board had agreed to launch a new title to fan out from this base to cover all the non-metallic minerals. Unfortunately, not long after, he entered a terminal illness, so I was doubly busy and the IM project went on the back burner. It was revived in 1966 for a 1967 launch. The leading question was who would edit it. Luckily my then-right hand man was Peter Rowbotham who jumped at the chance. The blueprint we gave him still had quite a strong focus on prices, in the Metal Bulletin mould. But Peter said ‘Facts, Trevor. That’s what they want, facts’. This has certainly proved a good recipe down the years. It was also the basis for IM showing the Metal Bulletin group the way into the conference business.”
The first editor of IM, Peter Rowbotham described IM as "...the onlooker that sees most of the game.." which been core to the magazine's operation ever since.
Perhaps the most significant event in the 1970s was launching Metal Bulletin’s first conference, the 1st Industrial Minerals International Congress, held in London in 1974. Industrial Minerals and Metal Bulletin have since gone on to launch a vast range of conferences.
Brian Coope took the editorial reigns at IM for the latter part of the decade and into the 1980s.
Joyce Griffiths became the fifth editor of IM in 1988, and was responsible for hiring the present day editor, Mike O'Driscoll.
Also in 1995, IM launched Mineral PriceWatch (MPW) which became firmly established as a unique source of industrial mineral pricing information and data. In the same year, IM launched another monthly newsletter, North American Minerals News which ceased in 2002.
The cover, The changing face of IM, depicted the four major redigns at the magazine.
.
Several new sections were added to IM and the structure of the magazine is now split between News & Analysis and Features.
Top Stories - All the latest news industrial minerals news and analysis
Strandlines - The latest developments from and commentary on the titanium
feedstock and zircon
industries
Supply Situation Report - Short news feature with a spotlight on one mineral grade, examining Supply Security, Price Trends, Market Demand, and Outlook
Market Monitor - News and developments from the end-markets driving industrial minerals consumption
Refractories Hotline - A focus on the refractory
market
People & places - Personnel movements in industrial minerals companies
Diary Dates - A list of internal and external conferences and exhibitions relevant to the industrial minerals sector
Price Briefing - A round-up and analysis of the biggest mineral price changes from the past month, taken from IM's prices section on indmin.com
Price Listing - A list of prices compiled from industry sources covering over 40 different industrial minerals, including alumina, bauxite
, chromite
, fluorspar, lithium carbonate
, potash
, rare earth minerals and zircon
Short Feature - In a similar vein to the main feature, but focusing on markets (i.e. ceramics) and specific countries (such as Turkey
)
Exposure - A profile of new and undeveloped mineral depots of the world
Processing - An in-depth look at the new equipment and/or methods from the world of industrial minerals processing
End User Focus - An examination of a specific end use market and the role of industrial minerals, for example the tundish
in continuous casting
and refractory
minerals used
Trading Faces - An interview with a selected industrial mineral trader
firms (such as IMin Partners) into industrial minerals. Traditionally viewed as low value, high bulk commodities, the rush for fertilisers, electric cars and high power magnets has seen interest in minerals such as potash
, lithium carbonate
and rare earths soar.
As IM explained in its December 2009 feature, A Decade of Minerals:
"Potash made those outside of the non-metallic minerals group of industries stand up and take note. As potash soared towards $1,000/tonne - a figure it would probably have reached by [2009] if it was not for the global economic crash - mining giants and investors alike wanted a piece of the pie.
BHP Billiton
, Rio Tinto
, and Vale - three of the world's largest miners - all either purchased or progressed potash projects on the back of the boom.
The reversal of potash's fortunes is summed up with the following: in 2004 Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada (the world's potash production hub) had not issued any exploration permits for the fertiliser mineral; at the end of 2007 3m. hectares was under exploration."
Some of the recent topics IM has covered in its features include the future of lithium demand, North Africa's construction industry and its vast minerals consumption, the surging interest in sillimanite
minerals for refractory markets, and the effect of the global recession on aluminium and steel markets, and in turn demand for metallurgical flux
minerals such as lime
, dolomite
, bauxite
, fluorspar, olivine
and wollastonite
.
1960s
IM was formed in 1967 as a spin-off from its parent publication, Metal Bulletin PLCMetal Bulletin PLC
Metal Bulletin Ltd is a specialist international publisher and information provider for the global steel, non-ferrous and scrap metals markets. -History:...
(MB), which had previously covered the industrial applications of mineral sands.
Trevor Tarring MBE, the then-Metal Editor of MB, explained the story:
“IM was actually conceived in 1962. In those days Metal Bulletin was very active, covering the ups and downs of mineral sands prices as part of its ores coverage. I remember my late father being very pleased that the Board had agreed to launch a new title to fan out from this base to cover all the non-metallic minerals. Unfortunately, not long after, he entered a terminal illness, so I was doubly busy and the IM project went on the back burner. It was revived in 1966 for a 1967 launch. The leading question was who would edit it. Luckily my then-right hand man was Peter Rowbotham who jumped at the chance. The blueprint we gave him still had quite a strong focus on prices, in the Metal Bulletin mould. But Peter said ‘Facts, Trevor. That’s what they want, facts’. This has certainly proved a good recipe down the years. It was also the basis for IM showing the Metal Bulletin group the way into the conference business.”
The first editor of IM, Peter Rowbotham described IM as "...the onlooker that sees most of the game.." which been core to the magazine's operation ever since.
1970s
Dick Fleming became the second editor of IM in 1970 and directed the magazine through the majority of the decade.Perhaps the most significant event in the 1970s was launching Metal Bulletin’s first conference, the 1st Industrial Minerals International Congress, held in London in 1974. Industrial Minerals and Metal Bulletin have since gone on to launch a vast range of conferences.
Brian Coope took the editorial reigns at IM for the latter part of the decade and into the 1980s.
1980s
Brian Coope was at IM for three years in the 1980s before Gerry Clarke moved from his post as Lecturer in Applied Mineralogy at the University of Plymouth to join the IM set-up in 1978, and subsequently become the Editor in 1983.Joyce Griffiths became the fifth editor of IM in 1988, and was responsible for hiring the present day editor, Mike O'Driscoll.
1990s
It was in 1995 when Joyce Griffiths left and Mike O'Driscoll began his post as the sixth editor of IM.Also in 1995, IM launched Mineral PriceWatch (MPW) which became firmly established as a unique source of industrial mineral pricing information and data. In the same year, IM launched another monthly newsletter, North American Minerals News which ceased in 2002.
2000s
In October 2007, IM celebrated 40 years serving the non-metallic minerals industry. This was highlighted by the issue's flagship article, Industrial Minerals: a generation of change by IM's former North America Editor, Peter Harben.The cover, The changing face of IM, depicted the four major redigns at the magazine.
IM Editors
- Peter Rowbotham 1967 - 1970
- Dick Fleming 1970 - 1977
- Brian Coope 1977 - 1983
- Gerry Clarke 1983 - 1987
- Joyce Griffiths 1988 - 1995
- Mike O’Driscoll 1995–present day
Magazine structure
IM underwent its fifth redesign in 2010 with the first issue published in March to coincide with the magazine's 20th Industrial Minerals Congress & Exhibition, held in Miami, FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Several new sections were added to IM and the structure of the magazine is now split between News & Analysis and Features.
News & Analysis
Comment - A selected editorial commentTop Stories - All the latest news industrial minerals news and analysis
Strandlines - The latest developments from and commentary on the titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
feedstock and zircon
Zircon
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. A common empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is 1–x4x–y...
industries
Supply Situation Report - Short news feature with a spotlight on one mineral grade, examining Supply Security, Price Trends, Market Demand, and Outlook
Market Monitor - News and developments from the end-markets driving industrial minerals consumption
Refractories Hotline - A focus on the refractory
Refractory
A refractory material is one that retains its strength at high temperatures. ASTM C71 defines refractories as "non-metallic materials having those chemical and physical properties that make them applicable for structures, or as components of systems, that are exposed to environments above...
market
People & places - Personnel movements in industrial minerals companies
Diary Dates - A list of internal and external conferences and exhibitions relevant to the industrial minerals sector
Price Briefing - A round-up and analysis of the biggest mineral price changes from the past month, taken from IM's prices section on indmin.com
Price Listing - A list of prices compiled from industry sources covering over 40 different industrial minerals, including alumina, bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
, chromite
Chromite
Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...
, fluorspar, lithium carbonate
Lithium carbonate
Lithium carbonate is a chemical compound of lithium, carbon, and oxygen with the formula Li2CO3. This colorless salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides and has received attention for its use in psychiatry. It is found in nature as the rare mineral zabuyelite.-Properties:Like almost...
, potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
, rare earth minerals and zircon
Zircon
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. A common empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is 1–x4x–y...
Features
Main Feature - An in-depth article on a mineralShort Feature - In a similar vein to the main feature, but focusing on markets (i.e. ceramics) and specific countries (such as Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
)
Exposure - A profile of new and undeveloped mineral depots of the world
Processing - An in-depth look at the new equipment and/or methods from the world of industrial minerals processing
End User Focus - An examination of a specific end use market and the role of industrial minerals, for example the tundish
Tundish
The word tundish originates from a shallow wooden dish with an outlet channel, fitting into the bunghole of a tun or cask and forming a kind of funnel for filling it. These were originally used in brewing.- Plumbing :...
in continuous casting
Continuous casting
Continuous casting, also called strand casting, is the process whereby molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills. Prior to the introduction of continuous casting in the 1950s, steel was poured into stationary molds to form...
and refractory
Refractory
A refractory material is one that retains its strength at high temperatures. ASTM C71 defines refractories as "non-metallic materials having those chemical and physical properties that make them applicable for structures, or as components of systems, that are exposed to environments above...
minerals used
Trading Faces - An interview with a selected industrial mineral trader
Trader (finance)
A trader is someone in finance who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives. A broker who simply fills buy or sell orders is not a trader, as they are merely executing instructions given to them. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2004, a managing...
Events
Since 1972 when IM launched its first event, its biennial Industrial Minerals International Congress & Exhibition in London, many have followed. Present day events include:- Industrial Minerals Internation Congress & Exhibition - Every 2 years
- China Industrial Minerals Conference(CIMC) - Every 2 years
- International Bauxite & Alumina Seminar - Every year
- Fluorspar - Every year
- MagMin(Magnesite) - Every year
- Lithium Supply & Markets (LSM)
Recent coverage
One theme of the last decade has been increasing interest from investors and private equityPrivate equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firms (such as IMin Partners) into industrial minerals. Traditionally viewed as low value, high bulk commodities, the rush for fertilisers, electric cars and high power magnets has seen interest in minerals such as potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
, lithium carbonate
Lithium carbonate
Lithium carbonate is a chemical compound of lithium, carbon, and oxygen with the formula Li2CO3. This colorless salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides and has received attention for its use in psychiatry. It is found in nature as the rare mineral zabuyelite.-Properties:Like almost...
and rare earths soar.
As IM explained in its December 2009 feature, A Decade of Minerals:
"Potash made those outside of the non-metallic minerals group of industries stand up and take note. As potash soared towards $1,000/tonne - a figure it would probably have reached by [2009] if it was not for the global economic crash - mining giants and investors alike wanted a piece of the pie.
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
, Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Group
The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...
, and Vale - three of the world's largest miners - all either purchased or progressed potash projects on the back of the boom.
The reversal of potash's fortunes is summed up with the following: in 2004 Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada (the world's potash production hub) had not issued any exploration permits for the fertiliser mineral; at the end of 2007 3m. hectares was under exploration."
Some of the recent topics IM has covered in its features include the future of lithium demand, North Africa's construction industry and its vast minerals consumption, the surging interest in sillimanite
Sillimanite
Sillimanite is an alumino-silicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2SiO5. Sillimanite is named after the American chemist Benjamin Silliman . It was first described in 1824 for an occurrence in Chester, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA....
minerals for refractory markets, and the effect of the global recession on aluminium and steel markets, and in turn demand for metallurgical flux
Flux
In the various subfields of physics, there exist two common usages of the term flux, both with rigorous mathematical frameworks.* In the study of transport phenomena , flux is defined as flow per unit area, where flow is the movement of some quantity per time...
minerals such as lime
Agricultural lime
Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate...
, dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
, bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
, fluorspar, olivine
Olivine
The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....
and wollastonite
Wollastonite
Wollastonite is a calcium inosilicate mineral that may contain small amounts of iron, magnesium, and manganese substituting for calcium. It is usually white. It forms when impure limestone or dolostone is subjected to high temperature and pressure sometimes in the presence of silica-bearing fluids...
.