Abstract

The mining of mineral resources has formed the basis of civilization since its very beginnings. Given the complex material requirements of modern industry and the growing demand created by the energy transition, this is unlikely to change anytime soon. This seminar will give a brief introduction to the general principles and processes used by the mining industry to transform rocks into industrial raw materials. In fact, many current processes are quite inefficient. We will look at the main reasons for this and current research directions aiming to improve industrial practice.  

Biography

Dr. Max Frenzel is an assistant professor of Earth Systems Science and Engineering, and principal investigator of the Mineral Exploration and Exploitation (MEx2) Group at KAUST. After earning his Ph.D. in economic geology examining the global availability and distribution of gallium, germanium and indium, Max spent one year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Adelaide, returning to Germany in 2018 as a postdoctoral researcher at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF). Before moving to KAUST in 2025, he was a senior researcher at HIF and led the Economic Geology and Geometallurgy Group. Frenzel has more than ten years of research experience working on mineral resources. He has raised over 2.5 million dollars in research funding and is the recipient of several institutional and national awards, recognizing the quality of his work.