Dr Ian E. Grey

This mineral was named in honour of Dr Ian Grey for his contributions to mineralogy, crystallography and the minerals processing industry.

Ian Grey graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Tasmania and joined CSIRO Mineral Chemistry at Port Melbourne in 1970.

For most of his career, Ian worked closely with the Australian mineral sands industry to solve industrial processing problems with emphasis on ilmenite upgrading. He used his solid state chemistry expertise to understand the effects of processing conditions on the mineralogical phases formed during the reduction of ilmenite. His work has led to the development of new and improved processing conditions that continue to be applied in Australian mineral sands operations.

Ian developed and maintained links with mineralogists around the world, and this led to  his involvement in the crystal structure determination of many minerals, including alunite-supergroup members such as kolitschite, kintoreite and jarosite. He has characterised and named 26 new minerals. Ian retired from CSIRO in 2006 but continued his crystal structure research as an Honorary Fellow. 

Ian’s honours include the Grimwade Prize (1975), RACI Solid State Medal (1982), Fellow Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2002) and the Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award (2004). Ian was awarded a D.Sc. from the University of Tasmania in 2003 and received an Order of Australia in 2009.