MMTA 2025 Conference Speakers and Programme

Speakers

Stephen Hall in the managing director of Advanced Alloy Services Ltd, who supply pure metals, revert and toll-process services to the superalloy industry.

Having joined the company as Managing Director in September 2016, in July 2019 he completed an MBO to take over ownership of the business. Stephen set-up Advanced Revert LLC at the end of 2019 a Joint Venture US business based in Virginia. He has been the Chairman of the Minor Metal Trade Association since 2023, having previously served as the Association’s Treasurer. He has previously worked at TTI, Precision Castparts Corporation, leading the technical group as Manufacturing Improvement Group Manager at Special Metals Wiggin Ltd., before transitioning to the Metals Manager role responsible for metals buying and the moving to sister company, Caledonian Alloys. Stephen Hall holds a Materials Science and Engineering Honours Degree from University of Wales Swansea.

Suzannah Lipmann is Managing Director, Lipmann Walton, UK; Suzannah joined the family business in 2009, becoming the 3rd generation to work in the metals trade. Suzannah became Managing Director in 2018 and has served on the Board of the MMTA for 8 years (2015-2022). Suzannah primarily handles the Rhenium and Zirconium positions, two of Lipmann Wal-ton’s trinity of core minor metals, alongside Hafnium – all three of which Lipmann Walton’s knowledge and specialism in
the market is well known. She gained a BA Honours degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Kent with a year in Japan at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.

After studying in Japan and learning Japanese, her focus was to develop Lipmann Walton’s business in this region further which has grown to represent a significant proportion of Lipmann Walton’s annual turnover.

Edgardo Cisternas is Manager of Research and Development at Molymet.

Edgardo received his PhD in Physics from Catholic University of Chile in 2009.

Shortly after he started working at Molymet as a senior researcher in the area of powdermetallurgy. Since 2019 he leads the R&D team, exploring new processes for recovery and purification of molybdenum, rhenium and other metals.

Dr. Alexei Iasnikov has over 20 years of industry experience involving the recycling and refining of minor metals, as well as the development, commercialization and sale of minor metals-based materials and chemicals.

Alex has also published numerous scholarly articles in this field as well as delivered numerous presentations, and is a recognized expert on applications and markets for minor metals and related materials. Dr. Iasnikov holds a PhD in Chemistry a BS in Engineering and Physics from Urals State University, Ekaterinburg, Russia, and an MBA from Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Andrew Matheson is the founder of OnG Commodities LLC, an adivsory services firm focused on a range of minor metals.

Andrew also serves as a commercial and strategic advisor to Ximei Resources, a Hong Kong listed company that is China’s leading refiner of tantalum and niobium products. He is also co-author of CPM Group’s quarterly tantalum market report and this year will extend cover-age to niobium and scandium.

Andrew holds a Ph.D in theoretical physics from Cambridge University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and has over 25 years of experience in specialty materials.

Dr Nils Backeberg is the co-founder of Project Blue, providing market intelligence on critical raw materials and energy transition supply chains.

Nils has over 10 years’ experience in mineral commodities and supply chain analysis combining academic and industry at leading firms including Metals Focus, Roskill and Wood Mackenzie. Nils’ academic background spans three continents with a MSc from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, a PhD from McGill University in Canada, and a post-doctoral post at University College London in the UK. He is a Research Fellow at the University of Stellenbosch and Guest Researcher at University of Twente.

Wim De Vos holds an Industrial Engineering degree in Chemistry and an MBA from both the Vlerick school in Belgium and London Business school in England. In his career, he has managed transformations, growth and developments in various industry sectors and regions with assignments in Japan, China, the USA and in several European countries.

Since 2017, Wim De Vos has been CEO of the Campine Group, which became a top 3 company in both European battery recycling and global antimony trioxide production as well as the only company in the world that recycles antimony directly from waste streams.

Jan Giese has been working in industrial sales of technology metals and rare earths at TRADIUM in Frankfurt/Main (Germany) since 2022. Before that, the business administration graduate headed glob-al purchasing at Heraeus Quarzglas GmbH, a business unit of the global family-owned company Heraeus, for 2.5 years. During his time with Heraeus, Jan Giese was in charge of buying rare earths as raw materials; he has learned about the challenges the industry faces through first-hand experience.

Since working for TRADIUM, he has been deepening his knowledge of rare earths markets. Jan Giese is a sought-after raw materials expert for Germany‘ s leading business magazine, the Handelsblatt.

Li Yilan, a senior analyst at Beijing Antaike Information Co., Ltd. and deputy secretary – general of the Minor Metals Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

Since 2020, she has specialized in gallium and germanium research, demonstrating deep expertise in both domestic and international industries. She has successfully organized numerous significant industry events, enhancing communication and cooperation within the sector. Additionally, she has participated in several key research projects.

Brian O’Neill directs the indium business unit of American Iron & Metal (AIM).

Brian has over 30 years experience in all facets of the indium business, including refining, recycling, trading, sputter target production, business development and process engineering.

Zachary Parsons is a Battery Raw Materials Analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a leading provider of market intelligence for the lithium-ion battery supply chain.

Based in London, Zach is part of the raw materials forecasting team, covering several markets, including manganese and graphite. He holds an MEcon from Peking University and an MPhil from the University of Oxford.

Kyle Pronk joined Project Blue in May 2022 having completed his studies in geology in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

His research focus has included a wide range of critical materials, including cobalt, lithium, salt and other raw materials, before building out Project Blue’s downstream semiconductor modelling and analysis.

This is complemented by his focus on a number of semiconductor raw materials leading market intelligence on tantalum, gallium, germanium, indium, and silicon.

MMTA International Minor Metals Conference 2025 programme

Sunday April 6 2025

20:30hrs – 22:30hrs  Margarita Cocktail Party at Barata Salguerio, Tivoli Hotel kindly sponsored by IMS Metals & Alloys

Monday April 7 2025

07.30hrs – 15:30hrs Golf Tournament kindly sponsored by ICD Group will take place at the Oitavos Dunes Golf Club situated just outside Lisbon (www.oitavosdunes.com). Separate booking is required; please email jill@metalevents.com for more details.

17:00hrs OnwardsRegistration 

18:00hrs – 20:00hrs Registration and Welcome Reception kindly sponsored by CCMA LLC

Tuesday April 8 2025

08:00hrs Registration and Barista Coffee Break sponsored by Exotech

09:00hrs MMTA’s AGM

10:00hrs Coffee sponsored by Exotech

Session 1: The future of alloys and a century of rhenium:

10:30hrs Introduction by Rachel Carnac, Founder & Joint Managing Director, Metal Events Ltd, UK;

10:35hrs Welcome remarks by Stephen Hall, Chair, MMTA, UK;

10:40hrs Keynote: “Rhenium: 100 years of Element 75 – from orphan metal to critical mineral”, by Suzannah Lipmann, Managing Director, Lipmann Walton, UK;

11:10hrs “New developments in rhenium at Molymet”, by Edgardo Cisternas, Research Director, Molymet, Chile;

11:40hrs “Trends in super-alloys recycling, market conditions and new technologies”, by Alex Iasnikov,  Chief Technical Officer, Titan International, USA;

12:10hrs “What’s happening in the world of hafnium?”, by Andrew Matheson, President and Founder, Nanoscale Powders LLC, USA;

12:40 hrs “Superalloys in aerospace parts and regional competition to recovering supply chains”, by Nils Backeberg, Co-Founder, Project Blue, South Africa;

13:15 hrs – 14:30hrs Luncheon sponsored by Titan International

14:30-15:30 hrs Session 2: Panel discussion: New markets, growth and demand – Panel discussion – Geopolitics, supply chains, critical raw materials

17:30hrs -18:30hrs Pre-Dinner drinks sponsored by Advanced Alloy Services 

18:30hrs – 21:00hrs MMTA’s Gala Dinner for all delegates sponsored by Molymet, ICD Group and DMT Alloy Processors

Wednesday April 9 2025

09:00hrs  Registration desk reopens – Coffee sponsored by Exotech

Session 3 – Geopolitics and the impact on minor metals:

9.30hrs  “The consequences of the Chinese export control/restrictions/ban on antimony and some of its compounds”, by Wim de Vos, CEO, Campine, Belgium;

10.00hrs “Gallium and Germanium: Geopolitical Dynamics Shaping Minor Metals Markets”, by Jan Giese, Tradium, Germany;

10:30hrs  “China’s trade in gallium and germanium”, by Li Yilan, Analyst, Antaike, China;

11:00-11:45 Coffee break sponsored by Exotech

Session 4 – A turbulent world and changing technology

11:45hrs “Indium: Technology Metal, Fracturing Market”, by Brian O’Neill, AIM Products, USA;

12:15 hrs “Semiconductor raw material outlooks and the impacts of geopolitics”, by Kyle Pronk, Analyst, Project Blue, UK;

12:45 hrs “Growing use of graphite and manganese in batteries”, by Zach Parsons, Battery Metals Analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, UK;

13:15 Closing remarks

13:20-14:15  Luncheon sponsored by Titan International