Dr David (Dave) Osborne is a longstanding and very proud member of the SME, this year being a recipient of the Legion of Honor award for 50-year membership of the Society, so this new honor Percy Nichols, makes 2022 a very special year for him.

Dave is a minerals technology specialist resident in Queensland, Australia, with extensive global experience in coal and mineral processing, quality assurance, and technical marketing. Internationally renowned with accredited engineering status, he has produced numerous technical publications, has several professional memberships, and is a regular participant in conferences and symposia. He still maintains active participation in international professional institutions and organisations including the ISO for coal standards, and is an adjunct professor in the Universities of Queensland and Western Sydney. His specific skills include technical and commercial resource assessment, ascertaining product value-in-use, tailings treatment, and supply chain management.

He has a passion for writing and contributing to technical books and is editor of a newly revised Coal Handbook, which is to be published by Elsevier in early 2023. He is also busy documenting his father’s exploits in the British Navy during WW2, something to keep him busy in avoiding retirement.