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More than 300 emerging researchers, industry leaders, government, academia and other stakeholders are to gather this month and next to explore innovative solutions to challenges in the minerals sector, Mintek announced on Monday, September 21.

In partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF), Mintek will be hosting its third Science Convention for Innovators in Engineering, Science and Technology (SCi) between September 29 and October 2 in Randburg, Gauteng.

Held under the theme "The Next Frontier: Emerging Scientists Driving Change" the 2026 event will highlight the strategic role of collaboration between research institutions and industry in strengthening South Africa's science, technology and innovation ecosystem.

The convention partnership takes place in the context of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Mintek and the NRF in 2025, which marked an important commitment by the two organisations to deepen collaboration in research, innovation, human capacity development and other areas of mutual interest. Importantly, the partnership is moving beyond the signing of an agreement towards tangible collaboration, programmes and opportunities such as this gathering.

Mintek SCi will be connecting emerging research with industry applications, promoting knowledge exchange and developing the next generation of researchers and innovators.

The Disruptive Research Roundtable, to be held at The Fairway Hotel in Randburg on September 29 will convene representatives from industry, government, academia, civil society and science councils. Under the theme "The Quadruple Helix in Science: Solving the Mineral Problems of the Future", the roundtable will examine how South Africa's innovation system can work differently and more collaboratively to address emerging mineral challenges.

The Mintek SCi Grad Hackathon will challenge emerging researchers and innovators to develop practical solutions to real-world challenges in the minerals sector. Finalist teams will present their solutions during the main Mintek SCi Symposium on October 2.

The flagship Mintek SCi Symposium will bring together emerging researchers from Mintek, academia, industry and research institutions to showcase research, exchange knowledge and explore opportunities for collaboration. Professor Loyiso Tyobeka, Vice-Chancellor of the North-West University, will deliver a keynote address at the Mintek event.

The 2026 programme will focus on four key themes: Critical Minerals, Energy, Emerging Technologies, and Sustainability and Circular Economy. Research topics include sustainable mineral extraction and beneficiation, rare earth elements, energy storage and hydrogen technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital twins, advanced process control, water management, decarbonisation, and converting waste streams into sources of value.

Mintek SCi is designed to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial application, giving researchers aged 35 and under opportunities to present their work, receive peer feedback, and build professional networks.

The 2026 edition demonstrates the importance of partnerships in advancing research and innovation that respond to real-world challenges. By bringing together researchers, innovators, industry and other stakeholders, Mintek SCi creates a platform for ideas to move from research into practical applications that can contribute to the future of the minerals industry.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Australia- and Frankfurt-listed Vulcan Energy has started commercial-scale production of its proprietary lithium extraction adsorbent, VULSORB, which selectively captures lithium from brine.

The company will use VULSORB in its Lionheart lithium production plant, which is currently under construction in Germany and due for commissioning in the second half of 2028.

VULSORB has successfully completed thousands of operating cycles under real-world conditions, achieving up to 95% lithium extraction efficiency.

Notably, ULSORB encompasses the aluminate-based adsorbent formulation, which is the 'recipe' to manufacture, as well as the method for manufacture. VULSORB provides Vulcan with an enduring competitive advantage – control over a proven western technology with a western manufacturing supply chain.

This is particularly relevant given that the largest global provider of adsorption-type direct lithium extraction technology and products, China, placed export controls and strict licencing arrangements on overseas shipments early in 2025.

"Achieving commercial-scale production of VULSORB marks a significant technology, supply chain and execution de-risking achievement for the Lionheart project ahead of its first commercial lithium production. Adsorption-type direct lithium extraction technology is increasingly embraced by major companies as the industry's brine technology choice.

"At a time when access to critical mineral technologies is becoming increasingly strategic, this provides Vulcan with greater supply chain security, reduced geopolitical risk and enhanced project execution certainty," says Vulcan MD and CEO Cris Moreno.

Meanwhile, Lionheart comprises an integrated lithium and renewable energy project targeting production of 24 000 t/y of lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 275 GWh of renewable energy and 560 GWH of heat every year for local consumers over an estimated 30-year project life.

Vulcan will now focus on manufacturing VULSORB over the next 18 to 24 months in preparation for Lionheart's commissioning, however, beyond this project, VULSORB provides a scalable platform for future expansion across Vulcan's resource base. It also allows Vulcan to selectively licence the technology globally through its VULTEC technology arm, to gain exposure to lithium brine fields in other jurisdictions.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Amid green hydrogen being declared integral to a new industrial framework at the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in South Africa, the global Hydrogen Council is urging the world to lift its hydrogen production game at pace.

While the summit was being told that South Africa's Just Energy Transition Investment Plan programme management office at the Industrial Development Corporation had identified 24 hydrogen projects, the Hydrogen Council co-chairperson and Air Liquide CEO François Jackow was advising the world to "bring hydrogen to scale", while simultaneously pointing out that the energy issues triggered by the conflict in the Middle East had reminded all of us that energy security is a "vital priority".

While the climate topic, underscored by the latest northern hemisphere heat wave, was still a significant hydrogen promoter, it was appropriate that the decarbonisation threat now be joined by "the state of the world, sovereignty, energy security, supply resilience, industrial competitiveness, energy strategy, and electrification", which had become the additional strategic imperatives.

Clearly, hydrogen had a key role to play, Jackow explained during a Global Hydrogen Compass 2026 webinar covered by Mining Weekly.

But clearly, hydrogen is complementary to electrification because you cannot electrify everything in terms of industry or mobility, and that's where hydrogen has a key role to play.

The evolution of the energy mix over the course of 200 years points to hydrogen advancing faster than any other new energy ever has, Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli noted, while emphasising the importance of continued investment in the rewriting of the energy equation as a collective ecosystem to develop the necessary price point.

"So, keep focused on the long-term prize that's definitely there," Simonelli urged.

"From CF Industries' perspective, the most significant change has really been the maturation of a low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia market in North America," said CF Industries CEO Chris Bohn, while pointing out that this advance had been driven by stronger focus on resilience, competitiveness and transitioning into project delivery mode: "No longer talking about it, but moving forward with it."

North America reportedly holds about 80% of the global committed low-carbon hydrogen capacity, with the projects advancing there said to be the largest on average globally.

Bohn expressed the belief that this growth was built on the US Gulf Coast being low cost, low risk and offering long-term offtake partnerships, positioning it to be producing about three and a half million metric tons of low-carbon ammonia at the end of the decade.

Jackow described as "exciting" the collaborative building of the world's hydrogen ecosystem.

"We're seeing a true spirit of alignment and that's extremely powerful. I don't think there are very many new frontiers where you have such a good alignment of complementary partners getting together," Jackow reported.

Simonelli spoke of Baker Hughes working across the entire hydrogen value chain from production, compression, transport, storage, and end use within every major region of the world, which had afforded the company a realistic view of the pace of hydrogen's progress and its elevation from being a decarbonisation discussion to being a much broader energy security solution.

With hydrogen already embedded as a permanent energy reference point, significant action is being seen in Asia, where it is the fastest mover.

"When you look at it from a resource perspective, Asia doesn't have some of the resources that others do, so they're looking at hydrogen being an opportunity, and we're seeing considerable progress in China, but also elsewhere in the Middle East, as we look at hyd...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the developments surrounding South Africa’s $5.8-billion green hydrogen ammonia project; the Mogalakwena mine which has 300-year-plus resource life; and the Manganese Producers Consortium stressing that Phase 3’s test rail reform cann

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International Canada has warned that the Canadian government must not embrace a programme of "race-to-the-bottom" corporate tax cuts that threaten human rights and the environment.

The organisation made the statement in response to the Canadian government's proposed "mega deduction" for corporations, announced at Prime Minister Mark Carney's Canada Investment Summit earlier this week.

If adopted, the changes would massively increase tax deductions businesses could claim for new investments in "capital assets", such as buildings, vehicles, machinery, computer equipment and energy infrastructure.

The proposal includes add-on tax incentives for investments related to the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Amnesty International Canada explains that LNG, derived from fracked methane gas, is a highly contested fossil fuel in Canada owing to its environmental and health impacts, greenwashing, violations of Indigenous Peoples' rights, and mounting financial costs to taxpayers.

According to a Department of Finance Canada press release, the "mega deduction" programme is expected to cost the government $36-billion in tax revenue over five years. Amnesty International says these cuts would extract a steep price from Canadians.

"At a time when Canadians are struggling with sky-high housing costs, surging grocery bills and the fallout from one of the worst wildfire seasons on record, subsidising fossil-fuel and AI companies to the tune of billions of dollars would be an unmitigated disaster," says Amnesty International Canada secretary general Ketty Nivyabandi.

"Providing massive, 'race-to-the-bottom' tax breaks to global investors keeps power and wealth flowing to the few while emptying the public purse. We urge the government to correct course and invest in change that puts people – especially those whose human rights are most at risk – and the environment first," Nivyabandi states.

For years, Amnesty International Canada has repeatedly urged Ottawa to stop subsidising fossil-fuel companies, whose activities accelerate climate change and expose local communities to toxic pollution and other harms. Meanwhile, the federal government under Carney has responded to US President Donald Trump's economic attacks on Canada by encouraging the construction of new fossil-fuel infrastructure.

Amnesty International Canada is of the view that committing billions in public finance to fossil-fuel projects will lock the country into long-term dependency on a source of energy many countries are intentionally eschewing. Rather than pad the profit margins of oil-and-gas companies, Canada must invest aggressively in renewable-energy sources and tax the excess profits of companies capitalising on the surging cost of oil, the organisation says.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International Canada joined a growing list of more than 70 civil society organisations urging the government to tax the excess profits of oil companies raking in extra billions because of wars in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine.

Revenue derived from taxing the excess profits of Canadian oil giants – who are set to net an estimated $90-billion this year – should be used to help residents offset rising living costs and to supercharge Canada's transition to a green economy, Nivyabandi motivates.

"Canada's leaders have already captured the world's attention through their resolve in the face of Trump's economic attacks and threats against our sovereignty, but we must go further. We can capture the world's imagination by showing that a rapid transition to a greener, fairer economy based in human rights for all is not only possible, but well within our reach," Nivyabandi concludes.