The Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI)'s move into EAIT is designed to strengthen and enhance the impact of resources research at UQ and improve coordination and cooperation around teaching, research and engagement.
Many of you are already familiar with SMI, but for those of you who are not, we’ve compiled some fasts facts to give you an overview of the Institute’s work.
Who we are:
Our people have an in-depth knowledge of the minerals industry, both at corporate and operational levels, built from years of practical experience and engagement.
SMI is led by Professor Rick Valenta and a Senior Leadership Team, supported by the SMI Advisory Board.
What we do:
SMI undertakes research in collaboration with industry, governments, civil society, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and inter-governmental organisations. We have a strong focus on research translation and impact through commercialisation, contract and grant-based research, consulting and a growing number of public and bespoke professional development courses.
SMI offers two Higher Degrees by Research (HDR) – the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil).
The Institute operates through 8 research centres, 3 strategic research programs, the International Centre of Excellence in Chile (SMI-ICE-Chile) and JKTech.
Current SMI staff numbers stand at 201 (135 academic, 66 professional), and current student enrolments are at 83 students.
Partners:
Collaboration is at the heart of SMI’s activities, and the Institute currently has partnership agreements with over 100 organisations and 126 projects underway. SMI’s model is to develop deep and long-term partnerships with key external organisations, which are multidisciplinary and generally comprise a very large number of projects, most of which are co-created.
Key partners:
- Queensland Government
- World Bank
- BHP Foundation
- Ford Foundation
- Rio Tinto
- Codelco
- Glencore
- MMG
- Trailblazer
- CRC TiME
Research Highlights:
- Critical Minerals and Circular Economy Research Alliance: the agreement between Queensland Government and SMI will oversee an $8 million research program over 4 years to drive identification, discovery and development of critical minerals.
- Current Australian Research Council projects:
- Future Fellowship for Professor Daniel Franks to explore how the availability, access, stability and utilisation of minerals impact the prevalence and intensity of poverty.
- ARC Discovery for Professor Longbin Huang to develop eco-engineering technology capable of creating useful soil from the tailings derived from a range of minerals.
- ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for Dr Jing Zhao to investigate microbes that have the potential to significantly accelerate alkaline mine waste rehabilitation.
- ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for Dr Éléonore Lèbre to produce a ‘first of its kind’ atlas of mining-impacted locations.
- ARC Linkage led by Professor Mansour Edraki targeting the complex problem of acid mine drainage (AMD) from waste rock dumps at mines, in partnership with School of Environment, EAIT, University of Waterloo (Canada), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (France) and Gap Geophysics Australia.
- SMI hosts the UQ Node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals (COE Minerals)
- Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer: SMI has 6 projects underway as part of the Trailblazer involving 10 different companies.
- CRC TiME: SMI hosts the Queensland hub of the Corporative Research Centre for Transitions in Mining Economies.
Locations:
SMI has offices and labs at St Lucia, the UQ Experimental Site in Indooroopilly and at Long Pocket.
SMI-ICE-Chile is based in the country’s capital, Santiago.
SMI-ICE-Chile is based in the country’s capital, Santiago.