Rodney Jones has worked in the Pyrometallurgy Division at Mintek since
1985. He holds a BSc(Eng) degree in chemical engineering from the
University of the Witwatersrand
(Wits) in Johannesburg, a BA degree in logic and philosophy from the
University of South Africa, and a MSc(Eng) degree in metallurgy from
Wits University. He is a registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and
Council member of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
(SAIMM), a Fellow of the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE),
and a full member of the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA).
He was a Visiting Professor at the Center for Pyrometallurgy, University
of Missouri-Rolla, during July and August 1996, and in 2002 and 2003 has
also lectured in pyrometallurgy at Murdoch University, Perth, as an
Adjunct Associate Professor. The National Research Foundation rated him
in 2009 as an 'Internationally Acclaimed Researcher'.
Rodney is married, with two children.
His main research interests are in the field of computer simulation and
design of high-temperature processes, and the development of thermodynamic
software. He is the author of Pyrosim software, for the steady-state
simulation of pyrometallurgical processes. This software is in use in
22 countries around the world. Rodney is also one of the inventors of
the ConRoast process, which has recently seen the demonstration of DC arc
smelting of 45 000 tons of PGM-containing materials at Mintek.
Selected unrestricted publications
RT Jones, Computer simulation of
pyrometallurgical processes, APCOM 87, Proceedings of the
Twentieth International Symposium on the Application of Mathematics
and Computers in the Minerals Industries, Volume 2: Metallurgy,
Johannesburg, SAIMM, October 1987, pp. 265-279.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Pyrosim/Pyrosim2.htm
NA Barcza, TR Curr, & RT Jones, Metallurgy of open-bath plasma processes,
Pure & Applied Chemistry, Vol.62, No.9, 1990, pp. 1761-1772.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/OpenBath.pdf
RT Jones, NA Barcza, & TR Curr, Plasma Developments in Africa, Second International Plasma Symposium: World progress in plasma applications, Organized by the EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) CMP (Center for Materials Production), 9 - 11 February 1993, Palo Alto, California. http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Plasma/Plasma.htm
RT Jones, Practical desktop supercomputing, Third National Symposium
on Computational Fluid Dynamics, University of Stellenbosch,
30 June - 2 July 1993.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/1993Desktop.pdf
AFS Schoukens, GM Denton, & RT Jones, Pilot-plant production of Prime
Western grade zinc from lead blast-furnace slags using the Enviroplas process,
Third International Symposium on Recycling of Metal and Engineered Materials,
Point Clear, Alabama, 12-16 November 1995, TMS Fall Extraction
and Processing Meeting, pp. 857-868.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/LBFS/LBFS.htm
RT Jones, DA Hayman, & GM Denton, Recovery of cobalt, nickel, and copper from slags, using DC-arc furnace technology, International Symposium on Challenges of Process Intensification, 35th Annual Conference of Metallurgists, Montreal, Canada, 24-29 August 1996, pp. 451-466. http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Cobalt/Cobalt.htm
H Lagendijk & RT Jones, Production of
ferronickel from nickel laterites in a DC arc furnace,
Nickel-Cobalt 97, 36th Annual Conference of Metallurgists, Sudbury,
Canada, 17-20 August 1997, pp. 151-162.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Laterite/Laterite.htm
RT Jones, Platinum smelting in South
Africa, South African Journal of Science, Vol.95, November / December 1999,
pp.525-534.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/Platinum.pdf
RT Jones, GM Denton, QG Reynolds, JAL Parker, & GJJ van Tonder,
Recovery of cobalt from slag in a
DC arc furnace at Chambishi, Zambia, Copper Cobalt Nickel and
Zinc Recovery conference, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 16-18 July 2001.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Chambishi/Chambishi.htm
This paper was awarded a silver medal by the South African Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy for publication in the January/February 2002
issue of the SAIMM Journal.
RT Jones, ConRoast: DC arc smelting
of dead-roasted roasted sulphide concentrates, Third International
Sulfide Smelting Symposium (Sulfide Smelting '02), Seattle, Washington,
USA, 17-21 February 2002, TMS Annual Meeting, pp.435-456.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/ConRoast/ConRoast.htm
RT Jones, QG Reynolds, & MJ Alport,
DC arc photography and modelling, Minerals Engineering, Vol.15,
Issue 11S1, 2002, pp.985-991.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/ArcPhotoModel.pdf
RT Jones, Economic and environmentally beneficial treatment of slags in DC
arc furnaces, VII International Conference on Molten Slags, Fluxes and Salts,
SAIMM, Cape Town, 26-28 January 2004, pp.363-376.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/2004JonesSlag.pdf
RT Jones & IJ Kotze, DC arc smelting of difficult PGM-containing feed
materials, International Platinum Conference, 'Platinum Adding Value',
SAIMM, Sun City, 3-7 October 2004, pp.33-36.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/2004JonesConSmelt.pdf
RT Jones, An overview of Southern African PGM smelting, Nickel and Cobalt 2005:
Challenges in Extraction and Production, 44th Annual Conference of Metallurgists,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 21-24 August 2005, pp.147-178.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/2005JonesPGMsmelting.pdf
RT Jones & TR Curr,Pyrometallurgy at Mintek, Southern African
Pyrometallurgy 2006, Edited by RT Jones, SAIMM, Johannesburg, 5-8 March 2006,
pp.127-150.
http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/2006JonesMintek.pdf
More papers available at http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Index.htm
Pyrometallurgy Division, Mintek,
200 Malibongwe Drive, Private Bag X3015, Randburg, 2125, South Africa
Phone: +27-11-709-4602
Fax: (086) 512-5877