Southern African Rare Earths International Conference 2021

HOW TO REGISTER FOR AN EVENT

Background

About the Conference

The global demand for rare earth elements (REEs) and their alloys has increased enormously in the last few decades. REEs are critical materials in high-technology applications due to their unique chemical, catalytic, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. In particular, REEs are used in emerging and niche technologies such as medical devices, electric vehicles, energy-efficient lighting, wind turbines, rechargeable batteries, catalytic converters, flat screen televisions, mobile phones. and disk drives. In fact, the 4IR-driven digital revolution will not be possible without the critical rare REEs.

The supply security of rare earth metals is of global concern. The need to diversify the supply of REEs thus creates significant opportunities for southern Africa to contribute to the global supply. In fact, as one of the regions with large REE resources, southern Africa can exploit this window of opportunity and significantly contribute to the sustainable supply of these high-tech materials.

The need to fully participate along the REE value chain has also inspired interest in developing downstream capacity for refining, through the Southern African Centralized Rare Earth Refinery (SACREF). Thus, in order to maximize value from the REEs industry in the region, further discussions on optimizing the REE value chain are needed. This conference, focusing on the optimization of the primary production and refining of rare earth metals, is designed to stimulate debate on growth, creating opportunities for the southern African rare earths industry.

Objective

The conference focuses on primary production of REEs, with specific emphasis on geology, exploration, beneficiation, refining, applications, policies, environmental aspects, new technological developments, market opportunities, and future outlook for the REE industry. In Africa driving the growth in the REE industry, there is an opportunity to establish regional centres of excellence in REEs innovation. Breakaway sessions will provide more insights on the developments, challenges, and future outlook of the REEs industry.

Who should attend

Who should attend

The conference is aimed at all delegates active in the REEs value chain (geological, mining, and metallurgical, environmental, supply chain, finance and policy), including:

• Exploration and production geologists
• First-line, middle, and senior management
• Mine/plant/production engineers
• Process/development engineers
• Policy-makers
• Financiers and bankers
• Project managers
• Design and application engineers/scientists
• Environmental, health, and safety practitioners
• Academic researchers

Exhibition/Sponsorship

Exhibition/Sponsorship

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Companies wishing to sponsor or exhibit should contact the Conference Co-ordinator.

Contact

Camielah Jardine
Head of Conferencing
E-mail: camielah@saimm.co.za
Tel: +27 11 834 1273/7

Call for Papers

Call for Papers

• 8 FEBRUARY 2021 - SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS
• 15 FEBRUARY 2021 - ACCEPTANCE OF ABSTRACTS
• 30 APRIL 2021 - SUBMISSION OF PAPERS
• 1 JUNE 2021 - ACCEPTANCE OF PAPERS
• 18–19 OCTOBER 2021 - CONFERENCE

Topics

Topics

Exploration, geology and mining of selected REE ore deposits in southern Africa.

• Process development for extraction of REEs from primary deposits (e.g., complex ferruginous REE ores, monazites, phosphogypsum, carbonatites), with emphasis on novel processing techniques, including (but not limited to) pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy.
• Processing and refining of REE intermediate products, using both conventional (e.g. pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy) and emerging (e.g. solvometallurgy, electrometallurgy, and aeriometallurgy) processing techniques..
• Recovery of REEs from secondary resources such as coal fines, fly ash, and postconsumer wastes (e.g. spent magnets and other end-of-life REE alloys).
• Environmental and waste management practices.
• Market opportunities, policy, future outlook, and industrialization strategies, including but not limited to, building downstream manufacturing capabilities and regional centres of excellence in REE innovation.

Contact

Contact

Camielah Jardine, Head of Conferencing,
SAIMM Tel: (011) 834-1273/7 ·
Fax: (011) 833-8156 or (011) 838-5923
E-mail: camielah@saimm.co.za