This, the 1^st International Symposium on Reagents in Minerals Engineering (Reagents '04) dealt with all aspects of reagents in the minerals industry. The event was being organised by MEI and was sponsored by Akzo Nobel Chemicals and Cytec Industries Inc..

Reagents play a vital role in minerals engineering operations. Advances in froth flotation, dewatering and hydrometallurgy depend heavily on developments in chemical reagent technology, and, increasingly, biological reagents are influencing processing flowsheets.