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We should all congratulate the new Federal Government on being able to produce their first budget with a surplus. The first in a decade! If you saw the budget speech on television you would see very pleased looking people taking credit for that turnaround. What we missed out on seeing was details of exactly how it was achieved, particularly the part that our industry, Mining, played in this reversal of fortune. Of course, at the end of Covid and prices for other commodities, including agricultural, play a part in this as well. Shortly after the budget was produced, we also see the Western Australian Government coming up with a $4B surplus. Again, looking very pleased with themselves. How did they…

As the Australian mining industry transitions to clean energy, mine sites are taking steps to reduce their environmental footprint and reach net-zero emissions over the next few decades. Decarbonisation and sustainability goals remain the focus for the mining majors, notably BHP targeting a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, Rio Tinto aiming for 15% and Fortescue Metals Group committing to net zero (which includes Scope 3) by 2040. Most of Australia’s emissions stem from energy production, transport, agriculture and industrial processes, with about 90% of the world’s carbon emissions coming from the burning of fossil fuels, according to the CSIRO. Within the context of energy production in Australian mining, the majority of mine sites in remote…

It’s inevitable that with advances in technology comes the need for transformation to take advantage of these technologies. Mining companies must regularly consider investing in their IT infrastructure to deal with an influx of connected devices, automated plant and equipment processes, and challenges of collaboration across geographically dispersed sites. There are also the complexities of managing mine asset themselves, from high production costs of extracting and processing minerals, investment in critical equipment, maintenance and labour, to fleet tracking, logistics and transportation, all whilst trying to hit targets and maximise ROI. Smart automation is essentially driving the need for asset owners to implement more efficient, more secure software that can help streamline their processes, including the real-time collection, analysis, storage and…

Brine mining has the potential to add a significant revenue stream to sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) – and possibly be a more profitable business than the production of fresh water itself – while simultaneously reducing the amount of brine discharged into the sea and increasing SWRO plants’ freshwater output. That’s why Saudi Arabia’s SWCC recently announced a major initiative to start brine mining in connection with its Jubail 2 desalination plant, which in addition to fresh water is expected to produce two million tons of sodium chloride and 3,600 tons of bromine annually. Indeed, other SWRO operators from Spain to Indonesia are beginning to mine their brines. Other valuable chemicals extractable from seawater, albeit in smaller quantities, include magnesium…

GJ Drivelines in Victoria, guide the Australian Mining Review through the process of building a new driveshaft to replace a broken unit from a Volvo off-road loader. Driveshafts fail – that is a fact of life in the mining world. Continuous use, heavy loads, harsh conditions and the inevitable ingress of dirt all work to shorten the life of tailshafts, driveshafts and PTO shafts across the industry. In some cases, it is a lack of maintenance that causes the failure. The driveshaft featured in this article suffered from a universal joint failure, resulting from dry needle bearings that ultimately disintegrated and allowed the trunnion to tear out of its cap. This then caused the universal joint to break the flange…