Director's Welcome February 2022

Welcome to the first e-newsletter for 2022.

It has been a great start to the year for the Sustainable Minerals Institute. We already have much to celebrate and are optimistic that we are strongly positioned for the year ahead.

We recently received news that SMI researchers successfully won five grants from the Australian Coal Industry’s Research Program (ACARP) - for projects in the areas of mineral processing, and health and safety.

Furthermore, Associate Professor Mansour Edraki from the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry (CWiMI) led a successful application for an ARC Linkage grant to focus on the complex problem of acid mine drainage from waste rock dumps at mines.

The Centre for Social Responsiblity in Mining's Dr Sarah Holcombe and Vanessa Elliott who led the Indigenous Exhange Forum in November 2021, have just released their final report and video. There was a strong commitment from all the participants to further build international connections, share knowledge, and inform mine closure governance. The Forum brought together First Nations representatives and affiliated researchers from Australia, Canada and Aotearoa (NZ), who have major mines on their lands, and developed from discussions at the Social Aspects of Mine Closure Research Consortium - a multi-party, industry-university research collaboration that places people at the centre of mine closure.

An Expression of Interest was also submitted for the Trailblazer Universities Programs for funding in the category of Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing. Curtin University will lead the project, with James Cook University and SMI as research partners. The submission has been shortlisted and we look forward to collaboratively preparing the final business case for funding.

Congratulations must be extended to Professor Rick Valenta, who was appointed to the role of SMI Deputy Director in late last 2021. Rick will lead the Institute’s production centres, which comprise the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC), WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre (BRC) and the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC). Rick also takes up the role of CEO at JKTech.

Rick’s appointment is key to our strategy to strengthen and integrate our capabilities in research, consulting, products and professional development. He will have leadership responsibility for all activities focused on sustainable production from concept to commercialisation. We will soon be recruiting for the roles of Director of JKMRC and Director of BRC.

I am also pleased to announce that Dr Doug Aitken has accepted the role of General Manager of SMI-ICE-Chile. Doug is known to many of you as the Sustainability Leader in Chile, and I look forward to closely working with him on developing our portfolio of work in South America.

His appointment follows the retirement of Professor David Mulligan who held the Executive Director, ICE Chile role for four years, I'd like to thank David for his enormous contribution to the Sustainable Minerals Institute over many years, and wish him well with his future projects.

As we transition back to working on campus, it’s inspiring to see so many new and returning international students, many of whom have undertaken their research to date in their home countries. I will have the opportunity to work closely with them during the Sustainable Minerals Institute’s strategic workshop in May as we explore the challenges for the industry over the next decade, and how we as world leaders in mining research can mitigate and develop solutions. This will form the basis of SMI’s new strategic plan, and also contribute to the SMI Review in August.

A team of researchers from across the Institute recently undertook a feasibility study for MMG on the Izok Lake corridor and it was encouraging to observe the practical impact of the Institute’s transdisciplinary approach. The project brought together experts from SMI’s community engagement, mineral processing, mine design, the environment, risk and governance groups to focus on a single issue and provide a comprehensive list of recommendations. It is the breadth and depth of expertise within each of our groups which I believe makes the Sustainable Minerals Institute well placed to work with industry on the future sustainability of the industry.

I hope you enjoy the e-newsletter, and please contact me if you have any questions or feedback.