:: Fresh Connections for Minerals Research in Latin and North America

AMIRA International has opened new offices in Latin America and North America, offering its Members new connections to the world’s best minerals R&D.

AMIRA International is an independent association of minerals companies created to develop, broker and oversea collaborative research projects on behalf of its Member companies. It is anticipated that Members and researchers will benefit from an increase in minerals R&D in both regions as a result of these appointments:

• Juan Carlos Salas is Research Director in Santiago, South America
• Andrew Marchbank is Research Director in Toronto, North America.

AMIRA also announces the appointment of Bob Howard as Research Director in Perth, Western Australia, replacing Tony Bagshaw.

The three new Research Directors have extensive experience in the minerals industry, and their appointment is an important step toward providing Members with new collaborative research projects from around the world.

According to CEO Deming Whitman, the regional appointments will provide AMIRA International Members with stronger and closer connections to eminent research teams while boosting AMIRA International’s relationships with local businesses.

"These appointments are particularly exciting for AMIRA as we pursue the internationalisation strategy that we adopted some years ago," he said.

"Although our membership has long been global in nature, the majority of our research providers to date have been Australian with South African and Canadian institutions becoming significant in recent years."

"Engaging with additional researchers throughout the world is fundamental to our capacity to identify and develop projects that interest our Members globally."

"Our presence in Latin America and North America, in direct response to our Members’ interests, will ensure that we build successful relationships across the Americas and confirms the truly international nature of the Association."

All of the Research Directors and the CEO are available for interviews. High quality photos are available.

New focus in Latin America

Dr Juan Carlos Salas is an expert in mineral engineering, with over twenty years of experience in mining and metallurgy, especially in the copper industry. During his career, he has managed metallurgical operations, R&D and technology innovation. His professional profile combines technical expertise, business management and leading high performance teams. Prior to his appointment at AMIRA International, Juan Carlos was a consultant in innovation and technology management, working with large and medium Chilean companies. Juan sees his appointment as an exciting opportunity to direct his experiences towards building a strong research community in Chile. It also provides the chance to be engaged in diverse aspects of the minerals industry on a global scale. Juan Carlos will be based in Santiago, Chile and can be contacted by email: jc.salas@amira.com.au

North America open for business

Andrew Marchbank has worked in the North American mining industry for over twenty-five years. He has been involved in developing a novel bacterial heap leach process to recover uranium from underground ore and has also operated a unique rare earth plant, processing uranium effluent for by-product recovery. Andrew is also experienced in treatment operations and corporate process research and development. He pioneered an ammonium thiosulphate recovery process to replace cyanide in leaching preg-robbing gold ores. Andrew sees his appointment as an ideal chance to redirect his energies into fostering research initiatives. He is keen to provide a tangible focus for the substantial North American interaction AMIRA International enjoys. Andrew will be based in Toronto, Canada and can be contacted by email: andrew.marchbank@amira.com.au

Changes in Western Australia

Farewell Dr Tony Bagshaw

After eight years with AMIRA International, Tony Bagshaw has retired and is following other interests. Tony brought to AMIRA International a wealth of experience in hydrometallurgy R&D and research management and has been a significant contributor to our expansion in these areas. He has also played an important role in our Perth office, providing a direct connection with our Members. Tony’s oversight of a number of important alumina collaborative projects, management of industry technical panels and his interaction with the Parker Centre/CSIRO have all been major achievements.

Welcome Dr Bob Howard

Bob Howard, a metallurgist with a background in manufacturing technology and pyrometallurgy, has taken the reins in WA. Bob has been consulting independently for four years to the South African Government on issues of manganese industry restructuring, as well as to Consolidated Minerals of Perth on chrome resource development. Bob sees his appointment as a chance to focus on corporate operations and research management in a creative new approach. Bob is based in Perth, Australia and can be contacted by email: Bob.howard@amira.com.au