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Dr. Gordon M. Ritcey

 
Phone
+1 613 828 5008
Fax
+1 613 828 5008
Email
gmritcey@attglobal.net
Address:
258 Grandview Road,
Nepean, Ontario K2H 8A9,
CANADA

Gordon Ritcey graduated from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1952. After an initial period with the Radioactivity Division of Department of Mines & Technical Surveys, Ottawa, he joined Eldorado Mining & Refining at Port Radium, North West Territories as Chief Chemist until 1957. During 1957-1967, at the Eldorado R&D Division in Ottawa as Head of Chemical Research, there were numerous successful developments in uranium technology, plus processes developed for nickel-cobalt and zirconium-hafnium separations, that led to a number of operating plants.

The next 21 years was spent at CANMET in Ottawa as Senior Research Scientist and Head of Hydrometallurgy, where numerous separation processes were developed, including uranium, cobalt, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, vanadium, chromium, manganese, niobium-tantalum, platinum group metals, etc.

Over 100 papers have been published, in addition to a 2-volume text on Solvent Extraction; and an authoritative text on Tailings Management.  An updated 2nd edition of the solvent extraction volumes was published in 2006. Significant chapters have been published in six other texts. Seventeen patents have been granted.

Dr Ritcey has been a Technical Session Chairman of numerous national and international conferences as well as Conference Chairman of several National Conferences, He was President of the Metallurgical Society of CIM (1976-77), and during the period 1986-96 he served as Secretary-General of the International Committee for Solvent Extraction. He was the founding Editor of the international Journal of Hydrometallurgy (1975), and remained as editor for 19 years. Two texts have been compiled and edited for the IAEA in Vienna.

Numerous honours have been received, including being the first recipient of the Sherritt Gordon Hydrometallurgy Medal, the ALCAN Medal, CIM Silver Medal, the University of Liege (Belgium) Medal, the Mendeleev Medal (Russia) and the Carl Hanson Medal (ISEC). He is also a Fellow of CIM and CIC Chemical Engineering.

Secondments to the United Nations and CESO resulted in successful projects in Brazil, Egypt, Burundi, China and Cuba. Invited sabbaticals have been spent at Murdoch University (Perth, Australia), the Australian Nuclear & Scientific Organization (Sydney, Australia), and Davy Power Gas (Stockton, UK). He has also been an invited lecturer to numerous conferences and symposia, and has presented about 60 short courses on solvent extraction and on tailings management throughout the world, including Canada, USA, UK, Brazil, Australia, Cuba, Egypt, China and Chile.

In 1993, Dr. Ritcey received a Doctorate of Applied Science from the University of Melbourne following submission of a thesis on Separation Processes in Extractive Metallurgy. Dr. Ritcey was Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, the University of Melbourne, and currently is Adjunct Professor of Hydrometallurgy, Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, Australia.

Following early retirement from CANMET in 1988, Dr. Ritcey has worked as an independent consultant internationally in the areas of hydrometallurgy and in tailings management. Projects have included uranium, copper, cobalt, nickel, cadmium-nickel, manganese, vanadium in the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, Japan, Norway, Spain and USA.

Since 1997, Dr. Ritcey has organized several successful International Solvent Extraction Workshops in Canada. These have been held approximately every 3 years between ISEC meetings, with the aim of informally discussing aspects and problems in all areas of solvent extraction.