Profile
Dr Flett was born on 3rd June 1936 in Inverness, Scotland. He was educated at Robert Gordons College, Aberdeen and at Aberdeen University where he gained a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in physical chemistry with a thesis on “The Thermodynamics of Cation Exchange by Resins” in 1959. He worked for two years with The Permutit Company Ltd in London on several aspects of resin ion exchange and on ion exchange membranes. He then joined the Mineral Processing Division of the Warren Spring Laboratory in Stevenage, Hertfordshire where he worked on various aspects of solvent extraction of metal ions. Over time he rose through the ranks to finally become Head of the Metals Extraction Division of Warren Spring Laboratory and then Head of the Minerals and Metals Division when the Metals Extraction and Mineral Processing Divisions merged in 1985. He became an independent consultant in 1991 after the closure of the Minerals and Metals Division at the end of 1990. He then joined Leeds Mineral Services Group as a part time consultant until the closure of the Group in 1992. In this year he joined St Barbara Consultancy Services in London as a Senior Consultant a position he still occupies. Also in the early 1990s he was appointed a consultant for American Cyanamid (now Cytec Industries Inc) on their CYANEX range of solvent extraction reagents, a position he also still holds.
At Warren Spring Laboratory, Douglas Flett established himself as one of the leading world experts in extractive metallurgy, particularly in metal separation technologies and specifically in solvent extraction for base metals, rare earths and precious and PGM's. From the results of his work on the kinetics of solvent extraction of copper with hydroxyoximes he proposed that the rate controlling step was an interfacial one, a hypothesis which, originally quite controversial, appears to be widely accepted now. He also worked on many aspects of cobalt-nickel separation in weakly acidic sulfate solutions. In this field he was responsible for work which led to the design and implementation of the cobalt solvent extraction plant at what is now Anglo Platinum's Base Metal Refinery at Rustenburg, South Africa, a plant which runs to this day. He has over a hundred publications including patents on metals extraction and purification processes.
He is a past Vice President and past Honorary Treasurer of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (now the Institute of Materials, Metallurgy and Mining (IMMM)) and has served on many of its committees. He is also a past Chairman of the Solvent Extraction Group (now the Separation Science and Technology Group) of the SCI of which Society he is also a past Council Member. Dr Flett was a founder member of the International Committee for Solvent Extraction holding the offices of Secretary (1974-1993) and the Treasurer (1993-2002), and was Chairman of the ISEC'93 Organising Committee. He served on the Mineral Industry Research Organisation (MIRO) Research Executive Committee for several years and was Visiting Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry of the University of Hertfordshire and also Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering of the University of Leeds for several years.
He was the Separation Science Lecturer of the Society of Chemical Industry in 1998 and in 1999 was awarded the Carl Hanson Medal for his achievements in solvent extraction science and technology, particularly for his work on the use of solvent extraction for the recovery and separation of metals. In 2006 he was awarded the Futers Gold Medal by the IMMM for outstanding services to the international minerals industry.