CEEC Medal Winners Announced
CEEC International proudly announces the winners of the prestigious CEEC Medal, celebrating outstanding contributions to energy-efficient, water-smart, and sustainable mineral processing.
This year’s Medal attracted an exceptional number of high-quality nominations across the Technical Research and Operations & Design categories, reflecting the global mining industry’s commitment to innovation and eco-efficient practices.
Technical Research Medal
Winner
Hydraulic Dewatered Stacking – delivering desaturated tailings management without the capital cost of filtration
- Authors: Phil Newman, Andrea López, Mark Bruton, Auel Kulmagambetova
This paper, presented at the Tailings Conference, provides transformative insights into tailings management by demonstrating a cost-effective method for desaturating tailings without the high capital demands of filtration. The authors detail the hydraulic dewatered stacking (HDS) approach, which enables safer, more sustainable tailings deposition, reduces water retention, and offers a practical alternative for operations seeking to improve environmental performance and lower costs.
High Commendation
Transformational Flowsheet: Unlocking Energy and Water Savings
- Authors: Erich Dohm, Fisher Wang, Serhat Onol, Evgeny Zhmarin, Drew Hobert
Operations & Design Medal
Due to close scoring this year, the Medal Evaluation Committee made the rare decision to honour two winners in the Operations & Design category, in addition to awarding one High Commendation.
Winner
Redefining the battery limits of processing plants – improving sustainability through the deployment of sensing technologies
- Authors: William Futcher, David Seaman, Bern Klein
This paper, presented at the Mill Operators Conference in Perth, explores how deploying advanced sensing technologies can redefine the traditional boundaries of processing plants. By integrating real-time data and sensor-driven insights, the authors demonstrate how operations can achieve improved efficiency, sustainability, and decision-making across mineral processing circuits.
Winner
Pioneering Coarse Particle Flotation – transformative insights from five years of operation
- Authors: Campbell Haines, Luke Vollert, William Downie, Isaac Heath, Rami Ghattas
This paper, presented at the Mill Operators’ Conference (AusIMM), shares lessons learned from five years of implementing coarse particle flotation (CPF) at Cadia. It details the design, commissioning, and optimisation of Eriez HydroFloat™ technology, highlighting its transformative impact on recovery, energy efficiency, and tailings management, while paving the way for more sustainable mining operations
High Commendation
Engineering, Commissioning and Operation of a Stirred Mill in the Arctic Circle
- Authors: Sarah Simard, Louis Racines, François Désilet, Gillaume L’Ecuyer, François Robichaud, Louis-Philippe Gélinas, Joel Bournival, Derek J. Reid, Daniel Roy
The CEEC Medal Evaluation Committee congratulates all winners and authors for their exceptional contributions. Their work showcases innovation, collaboration, and leadership in advancing more sustainable practices in mining and mineral processing.
Nominations are now open for the 2025 CEEC Medal. We encourage industry professionals, researchers, and practitioners to put forward outstanding work that drives measurable improvements in energy, water, tailings, and emissions management.
Learn more and nominate today: https://www.ceecthefuture.org/ceec-medal