Summary
Clive is an Industrial Minerals Geologist with over 30 years’ experience of capacity building, resource assessment, technical evaluation, mineral processing and Artisanal Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) 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 methods.
He has coordinated the reconnaissance, field sampling, characterisation, mineral processing, product evaluation, dissemination workshops and investment promotion on many industrial minerals projects. This has included brick clay, construction aggregate, dimension stone, dolomite, feldspar, graphite, garnet- & andalusite-schists, gypsum, kaolin, limestone, marble, mica, mineral sand, perlite, phosphates, mineral waste & quarry fines, sand & gravel, silica sand and talc-magnesite schist. He has worked on projects in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Clive is an experienced communicator and has presented at over 50 conferences. He also manages the BGS MineralsUK website. Clive is the secretary of the organising committee for the Extractive Industry Geology (EIG) conference. He is currently researching mineral waste and silica sand resources in the UK.
Clive is a member of the British Standards Institute (BSI) technical committee (B/502/06) for test methods. He is a Chartered Geologist (CGeol) with the Geological Society of London.
Clive Mitchell’s Biography
- 2019 : BGS Industrial Minerals Geologist with a focus on UK and international industrial mineral research with current focus on construction aggregate, dimension stone, mineral waste and silica sand.
- 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
- Frac Sand resources in the UK
- Industrial Minerals
- Mineral Processing
- Embodied-energy & CO2 consumption in aggregate production
- Small-scale mining
Current projects and collaborations
- Research on Frac Sand resources and Mineral Waste in the UK; Collaboration with the Ministry of Energy & Industry (MOEI), United Arab Emirates (UAE); industrial mineral resource evaluation work in the UK, Middle East and Africa;
Publications
- 2017 : Mitchell, C J. 2017. Mineral investment opportunities in the UAE [Lecture] In: The Mining Show, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2-3 Oct 2017.
- 2016 : Mitchell, C J. 2016. Mineral waste in the UK: innovation, optimisation and recycling [Lecture] In: The Fourth International Forum for Industrial Rocks and Mining, Expo 2016, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, 23-25 Feb 2016.
- 2015 : Mitchell, Clive. 2015. Construction aggregates: evaluation and specification [Lecture] In: The Third International Forum for Industrial Rocks and Construction Materials 2015, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, 30 March – 1 April 2015.
- 2014 : Mitchell, C J. 2014. High-purity limestone in the UAE [Lecture] In: The Second International Forum for Industrial Rocks and Construction Materials 2014, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, 3-6 Feb 2014.
- 2014 : Mitchell, C J. 2014. UK Frac Sand Resources In: Extractive Industry Geology (EIG) conference, St Andrews, UK, 12-13 June 2014.
- 2012 : Mitchell, C J. 2012. Advice and design for a ‘Geolab’, Geological Department, The Gambia. Nottingham, UK, British Geological Survey, 11 pages. (OR/12/003).
- 2011 : Mitchell, C J. 2011. High purity limestone quest. Industrial Minerals, 531. 48-51.
- 2010 : Mitchell, C J and Benham, A. 2010. On the road to Qalamkar: The block seller of Kabul In: Scott, P W and Walton, G. (eds). Proceedings of the 15th Extractive Industry Geology Conference, 87-91.
- 2008 : Mitchell, C J and Benham, A. 2008. Afghanistan: revival and redevelopment. Industrial Minerals, 489, 58-63.
- 2005 : Mitchell, C J. 2005. FarmLime: low-cost lime for small-scale farming From Marker, B R, Petterson, M G, McEvoy, F & Stephenson, M H (eds). 2005. Sustainable Minerals Operations in the Developing World. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 250, 121–126.
- 2003 : Mitchell, C J, Harrison, D J, Robinson, H L and Ghazireh, N. 2003. Minerals from Waste: recent BGS and Tarmac experience in finding uses for mine and quarry waste Minerals Engineering, 17, 2004. 279–284.
- 2002 : Mitchell, C J. 2002. Field evaluation of fine-grained industrial minerals From Scott, P W & Bristow, C M (eds). Industrial Minerals and Extractive Industry Geology. Geological Society, London, 235–238.
- 1994 : Mitchell, C J. 1994. Laboratory evaluation of kaolin: a case study from Zambia From Whateley, M K G & Harvey, P K (eds). 1994. Mineral Resource Evaluation II: Methods and Case Histories, Geological Society Special Publication No. 79, 241–247.
Published outputs
Skills
- Communication including presentation at conference and workshops.
- Industrial mineral resource assessment, characterisation, mineral processing, evaluation and industrial assessment.
- Mineral processing including Artisanal Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) research.
- Project leadership (Prince2)
Professional associations
- Chartered Geologist (CGeol) of the Geological Society of London
- Member of the Association of Geoscientists in Development (AGID)