Researchers from around the world met in Brisbane to discuss sustainable solutions for the mining industry’s biggest challenges as part of UQ Minerals Week.
Academic leaders from The University of Capetown (UCT), The University of British Columbia (UBC) and The University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines joined colleagues from the Sustainable Minerals Institute at UQ’s St Lucia campus.
Minerals Week was an amalgamation of events previously held throughout the year at SMI, and it aimed to energise researchers in the mining space and foster collaboration.
SMI Director Professor Neville Plint said while each of the individual events were a success, the long term impact would result from relationships developed over the week.
“Monday through Friday, we had four standalone events that produced great outcomes in and of themselves, but the week really benefited from multiple conversations,” Professor Plint said.
“The format meant researchers and students were having multiple, dynamic conversations on different topics, sometimes from different perspectives, across four days.
“The UQ Mining and Resources Forum introduced researchers from each of the partner universities and introduced them to our combined knowledge and where we can assist each other.
“The Next Generation Resources Student Conference was a huge hit and I’m still hearing praise levelled at the organising committee’s success engaging with students, academics and industry representatives from all over.
“SMI then hosted two workshops as part of the QUEX International Symposium, where we consolidated the week’s conversations and produced some performance indicators to hit before everyone meets again.
“I expect we will see collaboration in health and safety, mineral processing, water management and other spaces start to bear fruit over the next year,” he said
View photos from the Week here
