Overview

In this presentation, Kennedy Kereke will address Africa's abundant resources of critical minerals, such as copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite and rare earth elements, which are vital for clean energy and high tech industries. Despite the potential, sustainability challenges remain prevalent.

Key topics

• The significance of critical minerals, including cobalt (over 70% of global supply for EV batteries), copper (essential for renewable energy infrastructure), and lithium (crucial for battery technologies).
• Challenges in processing these minerals, such as environmental impacts, infrastructure gaps, regulatory barriers, and technological constraints.
• Opportunities for enhancing sustainability through integrated mining and processing, investment in green technologies, and collaborative public-private partnerships.
• The concept of industrial symbiosis, which leverages waste materials from mining operations for construction and other applications, thereby enhancing resource efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
• The role of circular economy approaches, including recycling and waste valorisation, in improving resource efficiency.

Speaker

Kennedy Kereke, Site Manager / Senior Metallurgist, MB Services SARL

Kennedy Kereke is a seasoned Process Manager with 30 years of experience in mining across Zimbabwe, Botswana, the DRC, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. His expertise encompasses process improvement, metallurgical optimization, and plant management in various commodities, including copper, cobalt, nickel, PGMs, gold, chrome, and iron ore.

He holds a BSc Honours in Applied Chemistry, an Advanced Diploma in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, and is currently completing an MSc (Eng) in Chemical Engineering. As a certified Process Improvement Specialist (Six Sigma & Kaizen Institute), he is poised to begin an industry-based PhD focused on designing sustainable business models for critical minerals processing.

The material presented has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenter’s own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the Mining & Minerals Special Interest Group in full. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

Time

09:00–10:00 BST.

Software

The presentation will be delivered via Microsoft Teams. We recommend downloading the app from the Microsoft website, rather than using the web portal.