MIWATCH Blog

Lexi Kng completed her industry placement at the Yancoal’s Cameby Downs Mine in the Western Downs region of Queensland during the summer of 2025–2026. From coal processing and engineering within technical services to environmental monitoring and community life in “melon country”, read about her hands-on experience in regional Australia.

I am very excited to share that I started my PhD as an ARC ITTC Critical Resources for the Future (ITTC CRFF) PhD candidate ~3 months ago. My research will focus on transforming pyrite to pyrrhotite using pyrometallurgy and extract the valuable elements using hydrometallurgy.

Whilst the change of season brings in cooler temperatures (almost jacket weather now in Brisbane) things are hotting up at MIWATCH in the leaching space as we welcome two new Winter Interns Skye Plenderleith and Jonathan Sayer who have joined Eric Ansah to work on projects focused on low-grade copper ore leaching and carbon dioxide sequestration potential.  I caught up with them both to find out a little bit more about their background and motivations

Earlier this year, Lexi K'ng completed a 6-week work placement at the MMG Rosebery Mine in Tasmania and is very thankful to Anita Parbhakar-Fox and Rick Valenta, Sustainable Minerals Institute and MMG Rosebery for giving her this opportunity supported by the Trailblazer program.

MIWATCH are thrilled to welcome Collins Adoko to SMI to start his PhD as an ARC ITTC Critical Resources for the Future (ITTC CRFF) PhD student.

Copper is a powerhouse metal of the energy transition but getting it out of the ground from tough minerals like chalcopyrite is no easy feat. MIWATCH Post-Doc Eric O Ansah explains new research.

New MIWATCH postdoc, Dr Elin Jennings outlines the findings of her first paper from her PhD.

Many of us at MIWATCH started out in Environmental Geochemistry to tackle the challenge of acid and metalliferous drainage (or AMD). Motivated by that, we are excited to welcome new postdoc, Dr Elin Jennings.

Research Assistant Rose Ridgeway reflects on her first trip with MIWATCH to the abandoned fancy yellow diamond mine in Ellendale, based about an hour and a half’s drive from Derby in Western Australia.

Last week, MIWATCH welcomed Dr. Steve Jason Chingwaru a geometallurgist and postdoctoral researcher from Zimbabwe. Steve recently completed his PhD which centred on the geometallurgical characterization and deportment of gold in one of the largest historical tailings reservoirs of the Witwatersrand.