Director
Eco-nomic Innovations Ltd.
Jonathan has a BE degree from University College Dublin (UCD) and a Masters from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in Chemical Engineering. During his thirty year career in the mining industry he has contributed to mining innovations including the world’s first digital diamond x-ray sorter. He has held R and D positions in mining research laboratories up to Programme Manager level. He has 20 years experience in mining research, in multi-nationals such as the Anglo American Research Labs and the De Beers Diamond Research Labs. He has held production management positions up to Plant Manager level in Cullinan Diamond Mine, Koingnaas Diamond Mine and Omagh Minerals gold mine in Tyrone. He was responsible for introducing column flotation to the Anglo American.. Recently he invented the SpecSep™ process for improved separation and reduced operating costs in the Dense Medium Separation process.
SpecSep: the next innovation in Dense Medium Separation (DMS)
SpecSep™ is a patented process that increases the separation efficiency in Dense Media Separation and reduces media consumption. Extremely coarse media is used in the SpecSep™ process and by immersing the DM cyclone in a magnetic field, similar media stability is achieved to that of conventional DMS. The coarse media is less viscous and more easily washed and recovered thus achieving better separation and reduced media consumption. The invention is low cost and low risk as there are no changes to the DMS plant other than adding solenoids to each cyclone cone section and specifying non-magnetic cyclone cone sections (eg stainless steel casing) from the mine’s cyclone suppliers.