Director's Welcome May 2021
Here at the Sustainable Minerals Institute, we’ve had a busy series of events during the last quarter with the celebrations for the JKMRC 50th anniversary, the High Reliability Organisations Forum, and the Life of Mine Conference co-hosted with the AusIMM.
After a year of online and hybrid events it was wonderful to attend these recent events in person and reconnect with colleagues face to face.
The JKMRC anniversary event, postponed from last year, celebrated the success of the Centre over the past 50 years – not just the innovative research, but also the many students and staff who walked through its doors. It was particularly special to hear from the JKMRC’s founder, Emeritus Professor Alban Lynch. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions Alban wasn’t able to attend in person, but we are grateful to his daughter Suzy who recorded his speech for inclusion in the night’s proceedings. His memories and anecdotes were a highlight of the evening. You can view the event here.
SMI also recently hosted a High Reliability Organisations Forum, an initiative of the Governance and Leadership Strategic Program led by Susan Johnston. The event was supported by the Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health, BHP and BMA, and Anglo American. This was the first such Forum on the HRO theme and drew much comment on the day and in many follow-up emails. You will find more information on the HRO Forum in this newsletter.
The Complex Orebodies Strategic Program, recently had a paper published a paper in Environmental Science and Technology. The paper Global Scan of Disruptions to the Mine Life Cycle: Price, Ownership, and Local Impact, focuses on addressing concerns of potential disruption to the global metal supply and was written by Dr Éléonore Lèbre, Professor John Owen, Dr Martin Stringer, Professor Deanna Kemp and Professor Rick Valenta (program lead).
Last week SMI launched its RAP Implementation Plan that will ensure we respond to and act on the UQ Reconciliation Action Plan. SMI is committed to creating further opportunities with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and developing our networks with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who work for industry, and those who have an interest in the sector.
International academic rankings are an important yard stick for any university, and I am pleased to tell you that in the recently released QS World University Rankings for 2021, UQ was placed third in the world for Engineering: mineral and mining, and also scored an employer reputation of 99.1%. This is a fantastic result for UQ and we look forward to continuing to work closely with industry on training future leaders and developing solutions to the sustainability challenges facing the resources sector.
I hope you enjoy this e-newsletter and if you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
