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Clive Mitchell

Clive Mitchell

Industrial minerals geologist
BGS Keyworth
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Summary

Clive is a senior Industrial Minerals Geologist with 35 years’ experience of capacity building, resource assessment, technical evaluation, mineral processing, and critical and battery raw material research in the UK and overseas. His role has included project leader; industrial minerals geologist; small-scale mining research; industrial commodity market research; training and workshop co-coordinator; and development of field-testing and reconnaissance methodologies.

Clive is responsible for developing business opportunities and leading BGS industrial minerals research projects including industrial mineral resource evaluation, institutional strengthening, capacity building, training, workshops and mineral promotion. His industrial minerals experience includes: aggregate, andalusite, brick clay, dimension stone, dolostone (dolomite), feldspar, graphite, garnet, gypsum, kaolin, limestone, mica, mineral sand, marble, perlite, phosphates, quarry fines, silica sand and talc. Projects in Afghanistan, Angola, Botswana, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Clive is currently researching critical and battery raw materials, in particular graphite resources in Zambia, for the net zero transition, clay resources for use as Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM), mineral waste and sand mining. He is Research & Innovation Challenge lead for the ‘Resources for the Future’ projects in the BGS International Geoscience Research & Development (IGRD) programme. Clive is an experienced geoscience communicator and active participant in community & public engagement activities, science events, social media channels, filming programmes, media interviews and other opportunities to engage the public with geoscience. Regular presenter at conferences/ workshops, most recently on ‘Fuelling the Foundation Industries: discovering the hidden value of mineral waste in the UK’ as part of the 2nd International Conference on Raw Materials and Circular Economy (Athens, Greece August 2023).

Clive is a Chartered Geologist (CGeol) with the Geological Society of London and a member of the British Standards Institute (BSI) technical committee for test methods for construction aggregate. He is secretary of Extractive Industry Geology (www.eigconferences.com, next conference September 2024 University of Hull) and manager of www.MineralsUK.com .

Publications: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/view/author/2827.html

Clive Mitchell’s Biography

  • 2019 to current : BGS Industrial Minerals Geologist with a focus on UK and international industrial mineral research. Current research projects include critical and battery raw materials, in particular graphite resources in Zambia, for the net zero transition, clay resources for use as Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM), mineral waste and sand mining.
  • 2013 – 2019 : Head of Corporate Communications & Publications; Press Officer;
  • 2008 – 2012 : Task Leader for the high-purity limestone and dimension stone resource assessment projects in the UAE.
  • 2005 – 2008 : Project Leader of ‘Institutional strengthening of the Afghanistan Geological Survey’ (DfID).
  • 2004 – 2008 : Project Leader of ‘Quarry Fines Minimisation’ and ‘Waterless Fines Removal’ (Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund).
  • 1999 – 2005 : Project leader of ‘FarmLime: Low-cost lime for small-scale farming’ (DfID KaR).
  • 1996 – 1998 : Project Leader of ‘Local development of affordable lime in southern Africa’ (DfID KaR).
  • 1989 – 1995 : Recruited by BGS; working on DfID KaR projects in sub-Saharan Africa; plus mineral evaluation and mineral processing.
  • 1987 : MSc University of Hull, Industrial Mineralogy – MSc thesis ‘The heavy mineral sands of Spurn Head’.
  • 1985 : BSc University of Nottingham, Geology (Hons).

Research interests

  • Critical and battery raw materials with a focus on graphite.
  • Calcined clay for use as a Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) in cement
  • Industrial Minerals
  • Mineral Processing
  • Mineral waste
  • Sand mining

Current projects and collaborations

  • Critical and battery raw materials in Zambia, particularly graphite, in collaboration with the Zambian Geological Survey Department (GSD) and the Copperbelt University (CBU); TransFIRe: Transforming the Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub; Low-carbon Cement: Engineered UK clays for production of low-carbon cements; BGS international project on sand mining.

Skills

  • Industrial mineral resource assessment, characterisation, mineral processing, evaluation and industrial assessment.
  • Geoscience communication.
  • Mineral processing.
  • Project leadership.

Professional associations

  • Chartered Geologist (CGeol) of the Geological Society of London
  • Secretary of the organising committee for the Extractive Industry Geology (EIG) conference
  • Member of the British Standards Institute (BSI) technical committee for test methods for construction aggregate

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