Dr John Farrow (CSIRO Minerals), the manager of the Parker Centre's alumina research, is the joint winner of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy's (AusIMM) Mineral Industry Operating Award for 2002.

Dr Farrow and Neil Jagger (from Outokumpu) received the award for "services to the minerals industry, through revolutionising the development and implementation of new thickener technology for mineral processing". They were recognised for independent activities.

Dr Farrow was recognised for his leadership in the AMIRA P266 "Improving Thickener Technology" projects.

Dr Farrow and the Parker Centre/CSIRO thickener research team work on improving the performance of gravity thickeners, the large shallow tanks used to separate solids from liquid in mineral industries such as alumina, base metals, gold and mineral sands.

Their work has greatly assisted industry by increasing throughput, reducing operating costs and increasing solid-liquid separation efficiences. The current P266D project is supported by 27 mineral processing companies and suppliers to the industry.

The AusIMM Mineral Industry Operating Award is presented annually for an innovative cost saving or effective operating technique developed in Australia or other countries for the mineral industry.