Blog

In previous publications, we have described how the size specific energy (SSE) can be calculated to predict the energy required to generate new minus 75 µm material. However, if we want to benchmark the performance of fine grinding where the product can be much finer than 75 µm, clearly we require a finer marker size. If we do this, we also need a way to compare results that use different marker sizes.

Since UQ’s pause in teaching in mid-March, a team of committed researchers and professional staff at SMI’s Production Centres have been quietly, if a little frantically, working to deliver their Process Mineralogy and Comminution course (MINE3219) to 3rd year Chemical and Metallurgical Engineers.

In January the SMI Centre of Excellence in Chile, along with the Australian Embassy and the Centre for Public Policy from the Catholic Univ. hosted a week of activities with visiting expert CSRM's Pam Bourke called “Opportunities for Deepening Dialogue”.
Activities included workshops, meetings and training events with a number of public and private sector organisations and NGOs who are seeking to enhance their engagement and dialogue with community members and organisations in Chile in a time of crisis.

As part of UQ’s Global Leadership Series, the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) have partnered with the ABC to create and broadcast a panel discussion which interrogates the role of minerals in a sustainable future.

In recent years, equitable and sustainable development has become an increasing concern in the global arena. Strategies which reach towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals must address concerns of climate and renewable energy transitions. We now need to ask how minerals will contribute to achieving these goals.

Daniel Seed, PhD Candidate in Journalism and News Literacy from UQ is part of the production team on '360 - Minerals, materials and a sustainable future', a panel discussion program which is a collaboration between The University of Queensland and the ABC. It will be recorded at the St Lucia campus on 28 November as part of the UQ's Global Leadership Series.

Fourth year UQ journalism student Dante Aloni is part of the production team on 'Minerals, materials and a sustainable future', a panel discussion program which is a collaboration between The University of Queensland and the ABC. It will be recorded at the St Lucia campus on 28 November as part of the UQ's Global Leadership Series.

The Mineral Industry Safety and Health Centre's Professor Robin Burgess-Limerick recently penned an insightful article for the Australian Resources and Investment journal in which he analyses what functions should be automated and why, and how to ensure human-related issues are adequately considered during that process. The article can be read here.

Mine closure is the topic of the moment. The recent Mine Closure 2019 in Perth was booked out for weeks beforehand. Why so and why now?
Ten years ago, the book “101 things to do with a hole in the ground” was published to a niche market of closure and sustainability practitioners. It sold out, twice! Centres of Excellence in rehabilitation have existed for much longer, and for many years the major mining companies established specialist closure teams within their corporate structures. So why the fuss now when mine closure has always been an integral part of mine planning?

The minerals industry invests a great deal of energy in comminution, both in terms of capital costs and operating costs. A number of people have published estimates of how much of the energy is consumed in comminution, including Ballantyne and his co-workers (2012) who estimated that in 2008-2009 1.3% of Australia’s energy was consumed in comminution circuits in gold and copper operations

Water presents a multifaceted set of issues that can rapidly become the touchstone for community acceptance or otherwise of resource developments. Not only are issues of water availability and quality important but water also presents an intrinsic set of values that are often interwoven into people’s perceptions of the issues. This elevates the importance of “getting water right” as an imperative in obtaining social licence to operate.