Well known mining industry consultant and academic, Professor Tim Napier-Munn, officially launched his new book, Statistical Methods for Mineral Engineers: How to Design Experiments and Analyse Data, at an event hosted by JKTech, the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) and the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) on 26 February.
The book encapsulates 38 years of Tim’s experience teaching statistics to approximately 2000 metallurgists and students globally, starting at Imperial College in London in the 1970s.
Professor Tim Napier-Munn
Given the success of his courses throughout the decades, Tim originally decided to commit his extensive statistics knowledge to paper back in 1996, but was side-tracked by his appointment as Director of JKMRC in 1997 and then inaugural Managing Director of JKTech in 2001.
“I finally started to write the book at the end of 2008 and it took me six years, part time. I think it is important for my profession to understand how to conduct efficient experiments and plant trials so as to enhance shareholder value in their companies. Statistics should be a routinely practiced skill in mineral engineering, as it is in other numerate professions,” Tim said.
“The book has been a true team effort. There is no way I could have done this on my own. In the Acknowledgements at the beginning of the book there is a long list of those who have helped me throughout this journey. I am very grateful to all of them.”
Packed with real world examples gathered over the course of Tim’s career, the book aims to de-mystify statistics and show how simple statistical methods, most of them available in Excel, can be used to make good mining decisions in the face of experimental uncertainty.
Dr Chris Fountain, Director of JKMRC said, “This book is the culmination of Tim’s life work and JKMRC is proud to have published and launched it on his behalf. Mining industry professionals and students have been coming to Tim’s courses for his statistical know-how for decades. It’s invaluable to have that information now available in written form.”
Statistical Methods for Mineral Engineers: How to Design Experiments and Analyse Data is not Tim’s only published work. He has authored more than 130 papers and articles, and was the editor of the JKMRC ‘Blue Book’ on comminution (1996) and the 7th Edition of Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology (2006).
For more information about the book or to order a copy, visit: http://www.jkmrc.uq.edu.au/Publications/StatisticalMethodsforMineralEngineers.aspx