Maria E. Holuszko

I have more than 25 years of experience in Mineral and Coal Processing Engineering working with industry, academia, and government. My first position was at the University of Alberta, followed by the Alberta Research Council. In the 1990s I held a senior Licensed Scientist positon at the British Columbia Ministry of Energy in Victoria, B.C., and I was engaged in consulting work for the mining industry before I decided to pursue my PhD studies at UBC. After completing my PhD degree in 2006, I moved to Australia to work at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, the center of excellence for mineral processing at the University of Queensland. In 2011, I returned to work for the industry as a Senior Research Engineer at Teck Resources until I joined the UBC Mining Engineering department as Assistant Professor in 2014.

In 2015, together with prof. Veiga we founded a new center dedicated to research in the area of waste re-processing, which has been financially supported by the Dean of Applied Sciences. Since establishing the center, we have attracted local recycling companies to collaborate with us on the recovery of valuable metals from what are otherwise municipal waste streams.

My interests are also in in the area of minerals and coal characterization. I carry out this type of research to advance Mineral Processing technologies. My major accomplishment in this field is my work carried out on the washability (ease of cleaning) of coal. I examined the washability characteristics of British Columbia coals in relation to the lithology of the seam, and established a washability parameter that can be related to the inherent coal characteristics. This allow geologists to predict the quality of coal in terms of washability. I published a manuscript-type paper (solo authorship) on the topic for the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines in 1994. In the field of Mineral Processing, I carried out work on the implementation of the Floatability Index into the JKSimFloat flotation model while working at Julius Kruttshnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC-Australia). This resulted in number of scientific papers on the characterization of the hydrophobicity of minerals, as evidenced in the publications list.

I am is also actively participating in the current coal carbonization (coal pyrolysis and coke-making processes) research by taking part in the Canadian Coal Carbonization Research Association group activities, providing advice in seminars and private consultations with the industry. I have been involved in research with members of CERC (Clean Energy Centre-UBC) on developing fuels that combine biomass with coal fines. I co-supervise graduate students in the Chemical Biological Engineering department involved in this research area.

Canadian representative to the International Coal Preparation Congress. Nominated by the industry as the expert to represent the country at the international forum. Chair of the Minerals Engineering section at Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, (CIM), Metallurgical Society (Metsoc).

• University of British Columbia, 2006, Mineral Processing, Ph.D.
• University of British Columbia, 1991, Mineral Processing, MASc.
• Silesian University of Technology, Poland, 1979, Mineral Processing, B.Eng.

• MINE 224 Mineralogy for Mining Engineers
• MINE 438 Advanced Process Mineralogy
• MINE 520 Advanced Coal Preparation Technologies

• Life Long Learning – teaching online courses at Edumine
• Mineral Processing – Coal Preparation invited lecturer at China University of Mining Technology –since 2015
• Participating in industry collaborative research at Canadian Coal Carbonization Research Association and CANMET Energy.
• Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, Taylor and Francis
• Co-founder and Leading Scientist at Urban Mining Innovation Center (UMIC)

• Holuszko, Maria. E., Leeder, W. Ross, Mackay Melanie, Giroux, Louis, MacPhee, Tony, Ng Ka Wing, Dexter, Heather., Effects of organic liquids on coking properties of a higher-inert Western Canadian coal, Fuel Processing Technology, volume 155, January 2017, pp. 225-231.
• Kumar, Amit and Holuszko, Maria, Electronic Waste and Existing Processing Routes: A Canadian Perspective, Resources, 5, 35, November 2016, pp. 1-19.
• Segerty, H., M. Hitch, M. Holuszko, B.K. Prusty and J. Li., Chemical changes in coal as result of exposure to CO2. Applied Science and Technology, vol. 5, No.1, 2015.
• Holuszko, Marian E. and Mastalerz, Maria D. Coal macerals chemistry and its implications for selectivity in coal floatability. International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, 35 (2) 2015, pp.99-110.
• Wenying Liu, Marek Pawlik, Maria Holuszko. The role of colloidal precipitates in the interfacial behavior of alkyl amines at gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid interfaces. Minerals Engineering, 72, 2015, pp. 47-56.
• Effects of organic liquids on coking properties of a high-inert Western Canadian coals; presented at International Conference on Coal Science and Technology, Melbourne, Australia, September, 2015.
• Modelling wettability of coal through the contact measurements; presented at CIM, COM-MetSoc conference in Toronto, August, 2015.
• Chapter on “Coal Processing and Use in Power Generation” in a book entitled “Future Energy, Improved, Sustainable and Clean Options for our Planet, 2nd Edition” by Professor Trevor Letcher. Published by Elsevier, November, 2013.
• Jaron-Kocot, M., Kadlewicz, K., and Holuszko, M.E., “Rheological properties of copper flotation tailings in the presence of a binding agent”, presented at COM 2010, Conference of Metallurgist, MetSoc, in Vancouver, October 3-6, 2010 and published in Proceedings of the 49th conference of Metallurgists in Rheology in Mineral Processing section, edited by Marek Pawlik, 2010.
• Holuszko, M.E., Wightman, E. and Manlapig, E.V., “Methods for improving the flotation recovery of the coarse fraction of a nickel ore”, presented at XXV International Mineral Processing Congress, in Brisbane, Australia. Published in Proceedings of the XXV International Mineral Processing Congress, Brisbane, Australia, September 6-10, 2010.
• Holuszko, M.E., Hampton, M.A, Nguyen, A.V., Franzidis, J.P and Manlapig, E.V, “An investigation into the nature of the methanol treatment on the increased ZnS flotation response”, presented at Flotation’09, conference, Cape Town, November, 2009.
• Holuszko, M.E., Hampton, M.A, Nguyen, A.V., Franzidis, J.P and Manlapig, E.V, “Increased ZnS flotation response due slime removal with methanol treatment”, in Proceedings of the 7th UBC-McGill-UA international Symposium on Fundamentals of Mineral Processing, Sudbury, August, 2009.
• Holuszko, M.E., Ming, A., Franzidis, J.P. and Manlapig, E.V., “ The induction time of Galena and Sphalerite particles with different hydrophobicity characteristics”, in Proceedings of XXIV International Mineral Processing Congress, Beijing, China, 24-28 September, 2008.
• Holuszko, M.E., Franzidis, J.P, Manlapig, E.V., Hampton, M., Donose, B. and Nguyen, N.V., “The effect of surface treatment and slime coatings on ZnS hydrophobicity” , Minerals Engineering, 21, 956-960, 2008.
• Holuszko, M.E. and Laskowski, J.S. “Use of pelletization to assess the effect of particle-particle interactions on coal handleability”; Coal Preparation Multinational Journal, vol.24. No.3-4, 2004.
• Holuszko, M.E., Laskowski, J.S and D.G. Brown, “Handleability assessment of selected coals using Durham Cone and Handleability Monitor”, Coal Preparation Multinational Journal, vol.24. No.3-4, 2004.
• Grieve, D.A., Holuszko, M.E. and Goodarzi, F., “B.C. coal quality survey”; B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources; Bulletin No. 96, 1996.
• Matheson, A., Holuszko, M.E., Goodarzi, F. “Selected thermal coal basins of British Columbia”; B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources; Paper 1994-3.
• Holuszko, M.E., “Washability characteristics of British Columbia coals”; B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources; Paper 1994-2.
• Holuszko, M.E., Grieve, D.A, and Matheson, A., “Sulphur in British Columbia coals and its implication for cleaning” International Journal of Environmental Issues in Minerals and Energy Industry ; 83-93, 1992.
• Parkash, S., Lali, K., Holuszko, M.E,“Separation of macerals from subbituminous coals and their response to liquefaction” Liquid Fuels Technology, 3(3), 345—375, 1985.