Summer and Winter Research Programs for Undergraduates

The effect of pyrite elemental composition and textures on electrochemical properties and flotation behaviour have been extensively studied as individual factors in single mineral studies. However, little information exists on their combined influence, interdependences, or the effect of a texture prevalence within an ore on flotation. Pyrite textures are often identified; however, their abundance is rarely quantified, particularly for complex mineralogical systems.

The research project will focus on investigating the relation between pyrite textures and their prevalence, mineralogical associations, elemental composition, and electrochemical properties on flotation performance of ore samples from Mount Isa. The project scope includes proposing a methodology for identifying and quantifying pyrite textures using image recognition analysis.

This is an experimental project which includes detailed data analysis and interpretation.

Project Duration & Delivery: 4 weeks duration, 36 hours per week. The applicant will need to be on-site at the Indooroopilly Mine Site for the duration of the project.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:  The applicants will develop a range of skills in conducting experiments and data analysis. Specifically, they will gain skills in flotation (including crushing, grinding, classification-sizing) and have an opportunity to work on image processing and data analysis.

Knowledge of any programming language, preferably Matlab or Python, is desirable but not mandatory.

At the completion of the project, the applicant will be asked to produce a report and/or an oral presentation of their project.

Suitable for: This project is open to applications from 3rd-4th year students with a background in mining, minerals processing or chemical engineering.

Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Liza Forbes, Dr Ünzile Yenial Arslan and PhD Candidate Mayra Jefferson Montoyo

Further information: https://smi.uq.edu.au/jkmrc-research/flotation-chemistry-group/pyrite-challenges-qld-ore-reserves-mine-tailings

Global demand for minerals and metals, particularly copper and gold, has risen and is forecast to continue rising in the decades to come. Indeed, Batterham (2017) quotes that demand in 2050 will be double that in 2015. The quality of deposits of these materials is decreasing, with them tending to be located at greater depths, be hosted in harder rock matrices, be of lower grade and of a more complex, finer grained and disseminated mineralogy. As such, the costs of processing these deposits, to enable extraction of the valuable metals, have increased and will continue to do so unless novel technologies to reduce costs are developed and deployed.

Comminution is especially challenged in the face of likely future ores. Comminution is the reduction of solid materials from one average particle size to a smaller average particle size, by crushing, grinding, cutting, vibrating, or other processes. Comminution is currently the most energy intensive process used in minerals operations. This will only increase for harder ores, with more disseminated, finer grained, complex mineralogies which will require finer grinding, and thus more energy input, to enable a subsequent separation to occur. High Voltage Pulse (HVP) technology is a selective comminution process designed to decrease the energy required to liberate valuable materials and enable their separation, such that the contained metals can then be extracted.

HVP comminution applies electrical energy (akin to a lightning bolt) directly to ore fragments to achieve selective breakage of particles containing metalliferous mineral grains. In the past 15 years, JKMRC has conducted extensive research using HVP electrical comminution technology for the mineral industry and has become the leader in this field. Three major applications for the mining industry have been identified and explored by the research team to date:

• Pre‐weakening – HVP generates cracks/microcracks which pre‐weaken ore particles for improved downstream comminution circuit energy efficiency or higher circuit throughput in a particular comminution design;
• Pre‐concentration – This selectivity allows for early gangue rejection as well as decreasing the economic cut‐off grade, by turning waste into ore;
• Enhanced Liberation – HPV results in preferential liberation of minerals resulting in improved recovery in the downstream separation processes. HVP can potentially enable alternative separation technologies, such as coarse particle flotation, to be viable.

Research so far has shown HVP has significant potential to address many current and future mineral processing challenges. Nonetheless, barriers remain to industrial uptake of the HVP technology. Fundamental knowledge gaps, around ore composition and amenability to HVP, and the optimum means of incorporating this technology and the benefits it provides, into mineral processing circuits exist.

High Voltage Pulse Technology is a potential game-changer in the industry and is therefore a large and exciting research initiative at JKMRC. The applicant will work with researchers and undertake various studies and tasks on HVP, including experimental and analysis of results, in order to obtain a better understanding of the responses of ores with different mineralogy to this novel technology.  The intern will gain valuable knowledge about the HVP process as well as learn technical and laboratory skills relevant to the mining industry.

PROJECT: Ore Amenability Assessment 

JKMRC has conducted extensive research using High Voltage Pulse pre-treatment of mineralised ores for the mining industry.  Three major potential applications using this HVP technology have been reported – Pre-weakening, Pre-concentration and Enhanced Liberation. HVP technology therefore has the potential to improve ore processability of different mineralised ore and improve energy consumption, boost processing efficiencies and increase mineral recoveries. However, more research is required to determine how different ore types behave when treated using HVP.

To date most of the studies has been on sulphide ores but the technology has potential to be used for other commodities i.e. critical minerals, coal, iron, etc. The objective of this Project is to test the potential of using HVP treatment on a new ore sample and quantify any benefits gained in terms of pre-concentration and pre-weakening. 

Project duration and delivery: 4 weeks duration. The applicant will need to be on-site at the Indooroopilly Mine Site for the duration of the project.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:  The successful applicant will be working with researchers in the HVP group on this project. It is envisaged that the applicant will gain valuable experimental and data analysis skills from the work to be undertaken.  These include:

• Exposure to the mining industry
• Training on a variety of sample preparation equipment and analysis tools
• Experience in developing and executing experimental plans and methodologies
• Exposure to HVP technology and its benefits to the mining industry
• Hands-on experience with the operation of the High Voltage Pulse equipment at the JKMRC
• Investigating the performance of HVP pre-treatment on a particular ore type
• Data collection and analysis skills

At the completion of the project, the applicant will be asked to produce a report and/or an oral presentation of their project. They will also have an opportunity to generate publications from their research work.

Suitable for: 3rd and 4th year students with a background in mining, minerals processing or chemical engineering are preferred, however other applicants would be considered.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Christian Antonio, Dr Daniel Lay

Further information: Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Christian Antonio to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application

Current ore characterisation techniques have several disadvantages. These include, but are not limited to, a large sample mass and tedious sample preparation. The results from those techniques are useful only to certain comminution devices and are difficult to correlate to geological and geotechnical databases.

The aim of this project is to use primary breakage properties derived from a new generation of comminution tests to model the comminution process in any device.

Project duration and delivery: 4 weeks duration. The applicant will need to be on-site at the Indooroopilly Mine Site for the duration of the project.

Expected outcomes and deliverables: Successful applicants will gain valuable data collecting and analysis skills and a detailed understanding of comminution modelling. At the completion of the project, a report on the project may be required.

Suitable for: This project is open to applicants with a background in science and engineering and with strong programming skills.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Conrad Ndimande and Dr Marko Hilden

Further information: Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Conrad Ndimande to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Following the particle characterisation, two laboratory devices will be applied to break particles under compression and impact. These devices are part of the new generation of instrumented breakage tests, which aims to offer a more accurate characterisation of the response of the rocks in the comminution process.
 
The objective of this project is to assess whether the results from both tests can be related to each other. Different ore types and particle sizes will be tested in the laboratory. The experimental plan includes sample measurement of the particles (mass and dimensions), proper execution of the experiments, and analysis of the results. 

Duration and delivery: 4 weeks duration. The applicant will need to be on-site at the Indooroopilly Mine Site for the duration of the project.

Expected outcomes and deliverables: The successful applicant will receive training in the safe use of breakage devices to conduct experimental investigations and gain skills in accurate data collection, analysis and reporting. They will be integrated into JKMRC's research program and learn more about mineralogy, minerals processing and rock mechanics. 

At the completion of the project, the applicant will be asked to produce a report on their project.

Suitable for: The project is well suited to engineering and/or geology students wishing to obtain experience in R&D procedures and practices for the mining industry. Self-motivation and willingness to learn new skills are essential. 

Primary Supervisor: Dr Karina Barbosa

Further information: Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Karina Barbosa to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application

Photogrammetry is an analysis method for converting overlapping photographs of objects into a 3D digital model. This project aims test the accuracy of measuring the surface profile and volume of prepared rock piles using photogrammetry analysis. The applicant will prepare small rock piles of various shapes in the laboratory and photograph these from various angles. They will also evaluate and select a suitable photogrammetry software and use it to develop a 3D model of the pile. Finally, the applicant will compare these data against measured dimensions of the pile and report their findings.

Duration and delivery: 4 weeks duration. Full-time onsite attendance at the Indooroopilly Mine Site is required.

Expected outcomes and deliverables: The applicant can expect to gain practical experience in applying photogrammetry and using it for remote measurement. They may be expected to write a brief report and present their work and findings to a technical audience at the JKMRC, in addition to their course requirements.

Suitable for: This project is open to UQ-enrolled engineering students. Python, Matlab or other programming skills is desirable.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Marko Hilden

Further information: Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Marko Hilden to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

In mineral processing, the valuable minerals are separated from the waste material by froth flotation. In this process, the mineral particles need to attach to air bubbles so that they are selectively recovered. The hydrophobicity, i.e., water-repellent properties, of the minerals plays a key role in the recovery process. This project aims to evaluate the hydrophobicity of various sulphide minerals that have been modified using novel reagent chemistries.  The work involves laboratory work where the hydrophobicity of the minerals will be ascertained through induction time measurements of particle-bubble contact. In addition, the surface charge of the minerals will be measured through zeta potential measurements. The data collected will enable quantifying the effect of modifying the minerals with the novel reagent and comparing it with traditional reagents.

Duration and delivery: 4 weeks duration. Full-time onsite attendance at the Indooroopilly Mine Site is required.

Expected outcomes and deliverables: The applicant will gain skills in performing experimental work, data collection and analysis of the properties of minerals in the mineral processing context. The applicant may have an opportunity to contribute to publications from their research outcomes and may also be asked to present their work and write a report at the end of the project. 

Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with a background in mining and mechanical engineering and/or metallurgical engineering who are enrolled at UQ. Students from engineering or science background in a relevant field may also apply. One student will be selected for this project.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Susana Brito e Abreu

Further information: Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Susana Brito e Abreu to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

What can we learn from an AI-enabled comparative analysis of World Risk Poll findings and other credible risk publications?  Designing Knowledge Graphs to Support Multi-Stakeholder Planning and Design

An overwhelming amount of knowledge related to significant risks and related interventions, policies, guidelines, etc. is published as text. Due to the large and rapidly increasing amounts of literature, it is difficult to analyse by manually or by traditional statistical analysis. 

This project seeks to overcome this barrier using advanced AI and natural language processing to:

1. retrieve unstructured information
2. extract from relevant information on related to the risk perceptions collected by the world risk poll.

It is expected that using advanced AI and natural language processing can reveal the risks that matter other information areas associated with the risks such as causes, impacts, measurement, and interventions (e.g. policies, guidelines, legislation, etc).

The results of the analysis will be presented visually utilising so-called knowledge graphs.

Duration and delivery: 4 weeks duration. Full-time onsite attendance at the UQ St Lucia Campus is required.

Expected outcomes and deliverables: Applicants will gain skills in data collection and analysis and will have an opportunity to generate publications from their research. Students may also be asked to produce a report or oral presentation at the end of their project.

Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with beginner or intermediate programming skills looking for an opportunity to develop their competences in machine learning methods, natural language processing, text representation techniques and/or data visualisation (knowledge graphs).

Primary Supervisor: Professor Maureen Hasssall and Dr Nikodem Rybak

Further information: Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Nikodem Rybak to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.