International Journal of Mineral Processing 142 (2015) 1 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Mineral Processing journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijminpro Editorial Editorial on the special issue — Mineral processing in Australia and China Minerals, metallurgy and materials (3-M) represent significant contributions to the economy of both Australia and China, which are currently facing considerable challenges in securing the future value of these 3-M industries and sustaining a competitive advantage in a carbon and resource constrained world. With the support from Australian and Chinese governments, the Australia–China Joint Research Centre for Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (ACJRC 3-M Centre) was established in 2013 to provide a platform to foster interdisciplinary collaborations between Australia and China to meet the challenges in the 3-M industries. Under the umbrella of the 3-M Centre, the second Australia–China Joint Symposium of Minerals and Metallurgy was held in Sydney, Australia on 23–25 July 2014. The scope of this Minerals and Metallurgy symposium covers fundamental and applied research into different processes or operations in the mineral and metallurgical industries. The objectives of this symposium are: • to provide to researchers and technologists direct access to the two countries' leading science, technological development and forward planning in minerals and metallurgy; • to allow industries from the two countries to showcase their own research and technological development; and • to offer a platform to exchange information and technology in minerals and metallurgy, providing awareness of industrial needs in the two countries and exposure to industry representatives. The symposium consisted of over 180 delegates (about 100 from Australia and 80 from China) from over 30 organizations including leading universities, national research institutes and key companies in the countries. The 5 plenary sessions and 12 parallel sessions accommodated 75 oral and 24 poster presentations. Mr Bruce Wilson (Head, Division of Resources, Federal Department of Industry, Australia) and Mr Huaxin Li (Consul General of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Sydney) delivered the opening addresses; Dr Alan Finkel (President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering) and Dr Fuxiang He (Counsellor-Science & Technology, Consulate General of the PRC) delivered speeches at the symposium dinner. This special issue contained 23 contributions in mineral processing, selected from these presentations. It is a bit unfortunate that largely because of the work commitment, not all authors can submit their full papers for this special issue. Therefore, the contributions and authorship do not fully represent the current research and development activities http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.minpro.2015.06.016 0301-7516/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. in Australia and China. But the special issue can still serve as a useful window to peer the research in mineral processing in the two countries. It is pleasing to see that a few papers in the issue resulted from the collaboration between the researchers from Australia and China. We hope it can help stimulate research exchange worldwide. On behalf of the advisory and organising committees, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the delegates for their support and contribution to this symposium, and the sponsorship from the Department of Industry and Science, Australian Government, through the scheme of Australia–China Science and Research Fund and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Chinese Government. We would also like to acknowledge the various additional supports from New South Wales State Government, University of New South Wales, China Iron & Steel Research Institute (CISRI), and Laboratory for Simulation and Modelling of Particulate Systems (SIMPAS) for this symposium. Without such supports, the symposium would not be able to run successfully. This special issue represents an outstanding effort of the authors and referees who have worked so efficiently and cooperatively. We thank them very much for their useful contributions. We would also like to give our special thanks to the International Journal of Mineral Processing and its Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Mauricio Leonardo Torem and Executive Publisher, Mr. Dean Eastbury, for the support in producing this special issue. Aibing Yu Director Australia–China Joint Research Centre for Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials, Monash University, Australia Corresponding author. E-mail address: aibing.yu@monash.edu. Kaiwei Chu Convenor Mineral Processing, Australia–China Joint Research Centre for Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials, University of New South Wales and Monash University, Australia