SMI HDR Conference Program 2025
The SMI Next Generation Student Conference offers a dynamic two-day program designed to showcase student research, promote knowledge exchange, and foster professional connections. The schedule features keynote addresses, technical sessions, poster presentations, and opportunities for networking with peers, academic mentors, and industry partners. Below is the detailed program for each day:
Day 1
Time | Activity |
08:30 – 09:00 | Registration and poster set up |
09:00 – 09:15 | Opening Remarks & Conference Overview Speaker: Prof. Rick Valenta |
09:15 – 10:00 | Keynote Speech Environmental Management and Rehabilitation Speaker: Dr. Evelyn Mervine |
| 10:00 – 10:15 | Bridging the Gap Between Mine Planning and Closure: Water Quality as a Strategic Consideration Mostafa Bavar (School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering) |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | Optimisation of socio-environmental impacts from water distribution networks from desalination Claudia Moreno Silva (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
10:30 – 10:45 | Using LiDAR Derived DEM Differencing Method for Validation of Soil Erosion Model Outputs Yasanga Suduweli Kondage (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
10:45 – 11:15 | Morning Coffee Break |
| 11.15 - 11.30 | Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria and Their Roles in AMD Chemistry at Mount Morgan Mine, Queensland, Australia Adithyanti Febriana (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
| 11.30 – 11.45 | The Benefits of Immobilized Sulfate-reducing Bacteria in Mining-influenced Water Treatment Yin Xinting (School of Chemical Engineering) |
11:15 – 12:00 | Characterising haloalkalitolerant diazotrophs in Technosols eco-engineered from bauxite residue Song Ge (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch Break |
| 13.00 – 13.45 | Keynote Speech : Social Responsibility and Governance Speaker: Fiona Sartain |
| 13.45 – 14.00 | Restoring the Land: Indonesia's Legal Journey Toward Responsible Mine Reclamation and Closure Hernandi Albeto Octaviano (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
| 14.00 – 14.15 | Exploring Women's Role in Post-Mining Land Reclamation Putri Elma Octavya (School of the Environment) |
| 14.15 - 14.30 | Land Governance, Mining and the Energy Transition: A Conflict Terrain in the Global South Makweti Sishekanu (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
| 14.30 – 14.45 | From performance to participation: Reimagining community engagement in tailings governance Angelica Amanda Andrade (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
| 14.45 – 15.15 | Afternoon Coffee Break |
15.15 – 15.30 | Water and energy to support socio-economic transition after mine closure Carolina Clerc (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
15.30 – 15.45 | When Companies Govern: The Unmaking of Public Services in India’s Coal Towns Shazia Imam (Sustainable Minerals Institute UQ - Indian Institute Of Technology Delhi) |
15.45 – 16.00 | History, Settlement Schemes and Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettlement in Kwale County, Kenya. Joseph Ndiwa (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
| Poster Session (5 min oral pitch + visual display) | |
16.00 – 16.05 | Soil Formation Significantly Lowers Vanadium Mobility and Bioavailability in Bauxite Residue Sophie Rainbow (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.05 – 16.10 | Assessing the impact of the autonomous and automated system on workers’ situation awareness Loreto Codoceo (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.10 – 16.15 | Characterising the Nature of Respirable Dust in Underground Coal Mines to Inform the Assessment and Management of Respiratory Health Risks to Coal Mine Workers Nikky LaBranche (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.15 – 16.20 | Investigation of the Calcium Ferrite Slag System to Support Copper Scrap Recycling in Anode Furnace Eunike Mercy (School of Chemical Engineering) |
16.20 – 16.25 | Effect of Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Pure Minerals on High Voltage Pulse Breakage Joy Marisol Maniaul (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.25 – 16.30 | Understanding Bubble Coalescence in Coarse Particle Fluidized Flotation Systems Anna Skliar (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.30 – 16.35 | Mine-Scale Integration of Hyperspectral Imaging for Geological and Geometallurgical Modelling Victor Tolentino (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.35 – 16.40 | Critical Factors Affecting Downcomer Performance: A Literature Review on the Jameson Cell Angel Gomez Velazquez (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.40 – 16.45 | Investigating the relationship between EBSD-elasticity and the mechanical properties of minerals Carolina Macarena Carvajal Gutierrez (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.45 - 16.50 | Linking Textural Complexity and Breakage Behavior to Improve Copper Recovery Hajar Chamlal (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16:30 – 18:00 | Networking session |
Day 2
Time | Activity |
08:30 – 09:00 | Registration and poster set up |
09:00 – 10.00 | Industrial partners panel discussion |
10.00 – 10.30 | Morning Coffee Break |
10.30 – 11.40 | Placement Information Session |
11.40 – 11.45 | SMI Memorial Awards Information Session |
11.45 – 12.45 | Lunch Break |
12.45 – 13.30 | Keynote Speech : Safe and Sustainable Mineral Exploration, Extraction and Processing Speaker: Roxanne O'Donnell |
13.30 – 13.45 | Frontline Workers’ Perspectives on Safety Leadership using newly developed Leadership Maturity Model Jian Shen (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
13.45 – 14.00 | Contractor fatalities in the Queensland mining and quarrying industries and data structures Dale Temby (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
14.00 – 14.15 | A novel three liquid phase equilibria in the Cu-Sb-Sn-Ni-S-Fe-As matte/speiss/liquid metal system Modassir Akhtar (School of Chemical Engineering) |
14.15 – 14.30 | Characterization and H2 Reduction of Iron Lump Ores Liu Shuoyang (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
14.30 – 15.00 | Afternoon Coffee Break |
15.00 – 15.15 | Stope Leaching Extraction Optimisation: A Path to Zero Waste Mining Mphoentle Gadiile (School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering) |
15.15 – 15.30 | Thermochemistry Study for the BHP Olympic Dam Copper Electric Slag Cleaning Furnace Optimization Fauzi Rizky Ananda (School of Chemical Engineering) |
15.30 – 15.45 | Study of ore amenability to selective breakage using high voltage pulses Karlo Leandro Baladad (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
15.45 – 16.00 | Characterisation of Rock Breakage Datasets for Reliable Digital Twins Kathleen Ranay (Sustainable Minerals Institute) |
16.00 – 16.15 | Closing remarks and award presentations |
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