News & Events - Sustainable Minerals Institute - University of Queensland

Coral discovery equips researchers with new environmental monitoring method

Published on: 21 October 2019

A rare element discovered in Great Barrier Reef coral skeletons will help scientists understand the environmental history of nearby regions.

Workshopping for future research collaboration

Published on: 4 October 2019

BRC and JKMRC researchers put aside two days in their busy calendar last month to travel north and workshop new applied research opportunities with mining industry stakeholders in Mt Isa.

UQ partners with seven Australian universities to advance sustainable mineral processing

Published on: 4 October 2019

The University of Queensland is one of seven universities tasked with championing sustainable minerals processing through a federally-backed $35 million Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence.

UQ study shows global supply of metals won’t meet demand without industry change

Published on: 4 October 2019

University of Queensland researchers have highlighted the effects environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks will have on the global supply of metals without major innovations in the mining industry.

Professor Longbin Huang recognised for outstanding red-mud rehabilitation collaboration with Rio Tinto

Published on: 4 October 2019

The Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation's Professor Longbin Huang, Rio Tinto and Queensland Alumina Limited have been recognised for collaborative research into technologies that could turn bauxite residue, or ‘red mud’, into soil capable of growing plants.

National consortium on mine closure passes first hurdle

Published on: 25 September 2019

A proposed Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies (CRC-TiME) is one step closer as one of only six proposed Centres to progress to Stage Two in Round 21 of the Australian Government’s CRC Program.
Hosted by The University of Queensland and the University of Western Australia, CRC-TiME brings together 50 leading mining companies, the Minerals Council of Australia, mining equipment, technology and services (METS) companies, regional development organisations, research partners, as well as local, State and Commonwealth governments.

Human-systems integration for the effective implementation of automation

The Mineral Industry Safety and Health Centre's Professor Robin Burgess-Limerick recently penned an insightful article for the Australian Resources and Investment journal in which he analyses what functions should be automated and why, and how to ensure human-related issues are adequately considered during that process. The article can be read here.

Mine closure - do we have what it takes?

Mine closure is the topic of the moment. The recent Mine Closure 2019 in Perth was booked out for weeks beforehand. Why so and why now?
Ten years ago, the book “101 things to do with a hole in the ground” was published to a niche market of closure and sustainability practitioners. It sold out, twice! Centres of Excellence in rehabilitation have existed for much longer, and for many years the major mining companies established specialist closure teams within their corporate structures. So why the fuss now when mine closure has always been an integral part of mine planning?

Meeting kick-starts Aus-PNG mining partnership

Published on: 9 September 2019

An introduction to The University of Queensland’s (UQ) mining minds has kick-started a recently signed partnership with the PNG University of Technology (UNITECH).

New agreement will advance desalination supply system in Chile

Published on: 13 August 2019

An agreement between UQ’s Sustainable Minerals Institute Centre of Excellence in Chile (SMI-ICE-Chile) and TRENDS Industrial paves the way for collaboration on an integrated multi-user desalination supply system in Chile’s Atacama region.
Chile and the Atacama Region in particular, is in a severe drought and continued industrial development, especially by the mining industry, will depend on a sustainable water supply.