Unlocking Mineral Value for a Sustainable Mining Future
The Process Metallurgy Research Group at Stellenbosch University, led by Associate Professor Margreth Tadie, is committed to unlocking the full value of mineral resources through innovative, interdisciplinary research that reduces mining waste, improves resource efficiency, and strengthens sustainability across the mining value chain.
Strengthening Sustainability Across the Mining Value Chain
Valuable resources are lost through inefficient processes, while poorly managed waste harms people and the environment. Fragmented knowledge and limited collaboration across the value chain compound these challenges. We respond with a non-siloed, cradle-to-grave approach to process design—integrating orebody knowledge, process metallurgy, and circular practices to recover more value, cut waste at source, valorise tailings, and embed sustainability across operations.
Our Approach
Our vision is an Africa where communities and economies are empowered through sustainable and equitable mining.
Our mission is to drive interdisciplinary research which shapes innovative metallurgical processes, reducing mining waste and improving resource efficiency.
To achieve this, we focus on three interconnected pillars:
Research and Innovation
Advancing interdisciplinary geometallurgy-rooted process design for efficient, circular flows.
Training and Mentorship
Building a pipeline of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers.
Communication and Collaboration
Working with academia, scientific councils, industry, regulators, and communities to translate science into practice.
Our Research
We develop and evaluate geometallurgical models to optimise resource recovery and sustainability, translating results into practical business use cases that drive uptake and deliver benefits for operations and surrounding communities.
Geometallurgy-informed process design
decisions grounded in orebody properties to maximise recovery and improve plant performance.
Tailings valorisation and by-product recovery
converting waste streams into value while shrinking the operational footprint.
Water, energy and materials recirculation
closed-loop systems that reduce losses and operating costs.
Impact Story
LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Associate Professor Margreth Tadie grew up in a mining environment, and that identity has, and continues to, shape her research.
Across the mining value chain, valuable resources are lost through inefficient processes, and poorly managed waste harms people and the environment. Fragmented knowledge and limited collaboration compound these challenges. Addressing these gaps is the focus of Associate Professor Margreth Tadie, a Chemical Engineer specialising in geometallurgical characterisation, extractive metallurgical processing, and flowsheet development. She leads the Process Metallurgy Research Group at Stellenbosch University.
Her work is a bridge between mining and the people who live with its impacts. The focus is on process choices that recover more value, lower environmental risk, and support livelihoods.
Her work connects mining with the people who live with its impacts. The group designs decision-support tools and practical flowsheets that maximise recovery, lower environmental risk, and support livelihoods.
Beyond mining communities, she convenes the wider ecosystem that enables change. The team advances interdisciplinary geometallurgical research, provides an inclusive training environment for students and emerging researchers, builds strategic local partnerships to embed sustainable practice, and develops international collaborations that align global expertise with African priorities.