Chris Fleming Awarded the 2023 Canadian Mineral Processors Lifetime Achievement Award

LAKEFIELD, ON, Jan. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - SGS is pleased to announce that Chris Fleming has been awarded the Canadian Mineral Processor's (CMP) Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is specifically intended to honor individuals who have been CIM/CMP members for at least 20 years and recognizes the outstanding contributions achieved throughout their career to the science of mineral processing.

"This is a wonderful honor that the CMP has given me with their lifetime achievement award. I was just blown away when I heard the news. I am thrilled and humbled," said Chris Fleming.

Chris Fleming has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and has spent much of his 48-year career in research and management. He has authored or co-authored over 90 technical publications, been awarded 16 patents, and contributed to several technical books on various aspects of extractive metallurgy. He has directed research teams and consulted in the industry on many hydrometallurgical projects and operations, particularly in gold leaching and recovery.

He is recognized throughout the industry for his contributions to the commercialization of the carbon-in-pulp and resin-in-pulp processes in gold extraction, as well as for the development of the SART, Augment, and Hannah process for cyanide recovery and the Platsol process for the simultaneous recovery of base metals and platinum group metals by pressure oxidation. 

Chris emigrated with his family to Canada in 1990 to join Lakefield Research and was intimately associated with the rapid growth in that company between 1995 and 2005, growing the business in Lakefield, Ontario, and establishing new laboratories and testing businesses in Chile, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, the UK, and Russia.

He became General Manager of Lakefield Research in 1992 and Vice President and Chief Operating Officer when the company was privatized in 1995. After the acquisition of Lakefield Research by SGS in 2002, Chris took on the role of Vice President, Global Metallurgy, with technical responsibility for SGS Lakefield's worldwide metallurgical business. Since his retirement from day-to-day operations in 2009, Chris has served as Senior Metallurgical Consultant for SGS' Metallurgy and Consulting team.

"Chris continues to make a valuable contribution both as a technical expert and a mentor to SGS' Canadian and Global metallurgical team. Personally, I have had the privilege of working with and learning from Chris during 22 years in the industry. I am one of many in our industry who has benefited greatly from knowing Chris," commented Stephen Mackie, NAM Senior Director, Metallurgy & Consulting, SGS Natural Resources.

We are SGS – the world's leading testing, inspection, and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. Our 96,000 employees operate a network of 2,600 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer, and more interconnected world.

SOURCE SGS North America Inc.