A South Australian-based consortium of universities, including the University of Adelaide, has made significant strides in the mining industry by collaborating with METS partners, mining companies, and key stakeholders to unlock substantial economic potential.
The Integrated Mining Consortium, funded by the South Australian Premier’s Research and Industry Fund (PRIF), has been operational since 2017 under the initiative ‘Unlocking Complex Resources through Lean Processing’ for end-user partners BHP and Oz Minerals (now BHP).
The SA government initially invested $4 million, with industry partners contributing an additional $1 million.
Over its tenure, the consortium has catalysed total funding and support amounting to $32 million across its 17 industry partners.
The economic impact of the consortium’s work is based on a projected 2 per cent increase in recovery, a 15 per cent increase in throughput, and a 17 per cent increase in production for the industry.
Professor Nigel Cook, Director and Convenor of the Consortium from the University of Adelaide emphasised the program’s success.
“The consortium has maximised value and lowered costs for mineral production using machine learning, sensors, and data analytics,” said Professor Cook.
“With ‘easier’ resources already exploited, we wanted to tackle those that are harder to mine or process.
“These ‘complex’ resources are more diverse in character and have a flow-on effect through stockpiling, crushing, grinding, and milling, which leaves the entire mining value chain open to optimisation.”
The consortium’s initiatives have addressed the growing global demand for copper, which is expected to soar in the coming decades.
Production from existing and proposed mines alone will not meet this demand without new discoveries and improved methods for recovering copper from low-grade resources.
The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia combined their expertise in resource modelling, mining, geomechanics, sensors, data analytics, computer optimisation, process modelling, and mineral processing.
Supporting partners evaluated technologies and identified commercial pathways alongside dissemination and marketing efforts.
Professor Cook highlighted the importance of collaboration in the consortium’s success.
“We have worked together with the exploration, mining, and minerals processing companies that will ultimately consume the products and systems we create. We also rely heavily on our expert partners to translate research into industry-ready products and services,” said Professor Cook.
In total, 14 research and 11 translation projects were established to tackle multiple elements of the upstream and downstream mining processes.
Beyond the quantitative achievements, the consortium has played a crucial role in training the next generation of scientists, engineers, and data analysts.
They have boosted the skills of 18 young researchers, awarded 17 scholarships to Women in STEM, and brought together 15 experienced mining and computer science researchers, 10 higher-degree-by-research students, and eight postdoctoral researchers.
The networks developed during the PRIF Consortium have enabled leveraging $47 million for new projects, with more likely to follow, building on the research capacity and infrastructure now in place.
While the Consortium’s activities will conclude in 2024, it has positioned Adelaide and its universities at the forefront of researching complex mining and mineral processing.
The University of Adelaide and the future Adelaide University will continue to engage with key industry players around new research opportunities.
These efforts aim to capitalise on South Australia’s metal endowment, reduce energy costs, lower water usage, and address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns.
South Australian copper is expected to play a critical role in enabling the transition to green energy production well beyond the state.
The University of Adelaide researchers are prepared to contribute significantly to these future endeavours.