Knelson Gravity Solutions

Mike McLeavy, M.A.Sc.
Manager of Process Engineering

Mike studied at the University of British Columbia where he received a Bachelor’s degree and a Masters degree, in Mineral Process Engineering. With over 10 years of combined industry and business development experience, Mike's proficiency is being utilized for metallurgical testing, flowsheet design, equipment selection, commissioning, optimization and large project management. These attributes are key assets to Knelson's success. Mike specializes in the design and development of turn-key, greenfield and brownfield Knelson projects.

Ajay Sihota, B.A.Sc.
North American Territory Manager

Ajay graduated in 2001, from the University of British Columbia with a BASc in Chemical Engineering. Working for Knelson and an international mining, mineral processing and metallurgical company, he has amassed over 8 years of "hands on" industry experience commissioning, evaluating, and optimizing copper, zinc, gold and specialty metal recovery processes. Ajay joined Knelson in 2006, and is KGS's North American Territory Manager. Along with providing process support for Knelson supplied equipment, Ajay is also intimately involved with the development of Knelson's custom engineered turn-key gravity concentration and upgrade circuits.

Andrei Makovetski, M.A., CITP
Manager of Market Development Russia/CIS/Europe & Middle East

Andrei obtained his degree in Economic Geography of Foreign countries from Moscow State University in 1993. He continued his education in economics and international business in Moscow, London and Vancouver and worked for multinational companies in Russia and Canada. Andrei’s skills are a combination of business development and international sales, marketing and market research, and mineral processing knowledge gained through practical work. After joining Knelson in 2005 Andrei, who is fluent in English and Russian, has been developing new markets, projects and product lines in the CIS, Europe and the Middle East. Andrei works closely with the Knelson office in Irkutsk, Russia, agents in the region, and also provides direct support to the clients.

Kevin Peacocke, BSc Eng (Min Proc), MIMM, C.ENG.
Director Process Development

Kevin is a metallurgical engineer with over 25 years experience in research, testwork, and process development. Working closely with clients and the KGS global sales team, Kevin's diverse range of skills and knowledge of mineral processing enable him to quickly and effectively provide base-line technology evaluation and preliminary gravity solution assessment. Through his extensive travel schedule, Kevin visits processing facilities the world over providing him with the unique opportunity to gather first-hand information on the latest trends and technological developments in mineral processing to add further value to KGS customers.

Mike Fullam, P.ENG.
Corporate Accounts Manager

Since graduating from the University of Toronto with a Degree in Mineral Processing in 1982, Mike has amassed an extensive background in mineral processing technology and plant operation. Mike joined Knelson in 1998 and has championed the successful development and marketing of several new product lines. In addition to his role as global Manager of Corporate Accounts, Mike also specializes in modeling gravity circuits and carrying out gravity optimization audits. Mike’s other responsibilities are directing much of the Research and Development initiatives within Knelson.

Peter Simpson, MIMM, C.ENG.
Territory Manager, Africa

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Peter is Territory Manager for the African continent. With over 30 years of Africa-based experience, Peter has immense knowledge of the mining and mineral processing industry, and in particular, the unique challenges of working in Africa. Proficient in all aspects of gravity concentration, Peter is available to provide process expertise from initial gravity assessment and amenability testing through predictive modeling and flowsheet development on both Knelson batch and continuous technologies.

Claudia Lopez, B.A.Sc.
Application Engineer, Manager South America

Claudia is originally from Colombia, where she acquired her degree in Mining and Mineral Processing Engineering in 1994 and worked in gold mining operations for 5 years gaining varied experience in testwork, flowsheet design, and metallurgical auditing. Since joining KGS in 2002 as R&D engineer, Claudia has participated in testing and research programs involving Knelson's three core product lines (semi-continuous "batch" concentrators, continuous variable discharge concentrators and the ConSep ACACIA Reactor), strengthening her metallurgical background in all aspects of gravity concentration. Proficient both in Spanish and English, Claudia is now KGS's Territory Manager for Latin America. She works closely with Knelson's Latin American agents to provide technical support to clients in the region and deliver knowledge on gravity concentration technology to the mining community.

Ed Zonneveld, B.ENG., P.ENG.
Manager, Engineering/Product Development

After receiving his Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lakehead University, Ed focused his career around heavy-duty machine design and analysis. Upon joining Knelson in 1996 as R&D Project Engineer, Ed was instrumental in the successful design and development of Knelson's Continuous Variable Discharge (CVD) product line. In 2000 he was promoted to Manager, Engineering/Product Development and is now responsible for all aspects of Knelson's product development. This includes; Machine design and analysis, 3D computer modeling and day-to-day management.

Contact Knelson's technical gravity solutions team.