Inaugural Fred C. Bond Award presented at MINEXCHANGE 2025

The Comminution technical program at the MINECHANGE 2024 SME Annual Conference & Expo opened with a special 30-minute lecture by Robert E. McIvor, celebrating the life and career of Fred C. Bond, one of the most influential figures in the history of mineral processing. Fittingly, the entire technical session took on a Bond and ball mill theme, setting the stage for the introduction of a new and meaningful honor: the Fred C. Bond Award. This newly established award, administered by the Comminution Unit Committee of the Mineral & Metallurgical Processing Division (MPD), recognizes outstanding work in comminution. Specifically, it is awarded for “excellence in technical content and written quality of a paper on comminution presented at the SME Annual Meeting.” To be eligible, there must be a written paper submitted, and the author must be able to attend the MINEXCHANGE SME conference to present their work in person. Kaveh Asgari from West Virginia University is the first recipient of the Fred C. Bond Award. In summer 2024, invitations were sent to a comprehensive list of university professors involved in mineral processing across the United States and Canada, who were encouraged to share the opportunity with their students. From this outreach, the committee received five expressions of interest. Following a review of abstracts and full paper submissions, the judging panel unanimously selected the inaugural winner: Kaveh Asgari from West Virginia University. Asgari’s paper, titled “Investigating the Effect of Thermal Pretreatment on Chalcopyrite Grinding,” impressed the panel with its solid experimental design, thoughtful analysis, and clear understanding of comminution fundamentals. Reviewers also commended the scientific rigor demonstrated throughout the work, particularly the accurate use of experimental error bars to support the testwork findings. As the recipient of the Fred C. Bond Award, Asgari was given the opening presentation slot in the Comminution technical session at MINEXCHANGE 2025, a commemorative plaque and, as he is a full-time student, full travel expenses to MINEXCHANGE 2025 in Denver, CO. This award was made possible through the generous support of the Nevada MPD, Metcom Technologies, Farnell-Thompson (FLS) and Molycop. Planning is already underway for the 2nd Annual Fred C. Bond Award, to be presented at MINEXCHANGE 2026 in Salt Lake City, UT. Anyone interested in applying should contact Mike Larson at mike.larson@molycop.com or Omar Arafat at omar@metcomtech.com for further details. Companies interested in sponsoring future Bond Awards are encouraged to contact them as well.

Inaugural Fred C. Bond Award presented at MINEXCHANGE 2025

Authored by: Mike Larson and Omar Arafat

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