*This is an abstract only. No full paper is available for this abstract.* The last three years have been a period of intense change and instability for the minerals industry and its service providers. Key contributing factors and associated trends will be examined. Particular emphasis will be directed at the concentrator area of the mineral cycle from an operator and service sector perspective._x000D_
Since the first Mill Operators' Conference in 1978, these conferences themes have reflected the turbulent cyclical nature of our industry, whether as a boom or bust. This thematic record of events will also be retrospectively discussed from a personal perspective, with special reference to north Queensland._x000D_
Finally, some ideas will be presented on how we can improve our collective performances in the future._x000D_
CITATION: Hunter, T, 2014. Concentrators - past, present and future trends for operators and service providers, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2014, pp 3-4 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).