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THE Australian Government is continuing to work with State and Territory Ministers and the resources sector to ensure critical projects keep operating during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources Minister Keith Pitt said his state cpounterparts met by teleconference again last night to discuss the shared goal of ensuring this vital sector keeps operating. “The Australian resources sector is a key part of the Australian economy,” Mr Pitt said. “The commodities Australia mines keep the lights on here, they supply the essentials for major businesses like smelters and refineries, and our exports will be critical in keeping international economies going as they too deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. “The resources sector has developed a set of health and safety…

THE Federal Government has announced the establishment of a new Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) on Transformations in Mining Economies (CRC-TiME). The $29.5m funding for the CRC is part of a total 10-year investment of $135.4m to support the successful transition of mining communities to form sustainable community and development opportunities. The CRC is jointly led by the University of WA and the University of Queensland. The centre brings together a unique partnership of industry, government, universities, research organisation, including CSIRO, and community/regional groups with a vision for sustainable mine closures and community and regional development opportunities in Australia. CRC-TiME chief executive officer Guy Boggs said the centre had the potential to create hundreds of new opportunities and regional jobs through…

THE presence of metallic blue crusts on termite mounds could indicate the presence of other base metals in the surrounding area. A CSIRO study in the southern Pilbara region of WA, using advances in sample analysis, has shown how the blueish manganese crusts displayed unique zinc signatures that indicated metal deposits were in the vicinity. The crusts are also found in rock and cave varnishes, making them an easily accessible exploration tool for base metals including nickel and cobalt, which will support the world’s transition to a low emissions future. Lead scientist Sam Spinks said CSIRO’s innovative new exploration tools and processes were helping to tackle the global challenge of sustainable energy and resources. “Australian explorers need new, cost-effective techniques…

RESOURCES Minister Keith Pitt has welcomed the long term commitment by some of Australia’s largest mining and upstream petroleum companies to major resources projects, despite the major economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I understand the extremely difficult situation facing companies and workers across the economy including in the resources and energy sector,” he said. “Any project delays are deeply regrettable and any people losing their jobs in the short term is something the Government is working hard to avoid and minimise – be that direct employees or the numerous contractors and sub-contractors that work in this sector. “We simply can’t afford to lose the skills and knowledge that these workers bring to the country. “The next few months…

THE Australian Steel Institute (ASI) has called on the Government to classify the steel industry as essential. The peak industry body represents the entire steel industry value chain, including major producer members BlueScope Steel, InfraBuild Steel, Molycop and Bisalloy, and says the industry must be kept operational in the event of severe lockdowns designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. In a joint statement with the Australian Workers’ Union, the ASI said steel was a high capital cost industry with low people density and high value. “The steel industry already practices very high standards of hygiene to protect all employees from routine work health and safety risks,” they said. “These practices have been galvanised and heighted since the outbreak of…

RESEARCHERS have developed new methods for recognising potential mineralisation hidden beneath barren cover rocks in under-explored areas of WA. A major collaboration between the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA), the Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET) and sponsor Gold Road Resources, the project seeks to apply new computational technology to solving the challenges of mineral exploration below barren cover rocks. The work targeted WA’s Eastern Yilgarn Craton and Albany-Fraser Orogen, where highly-endowed regional geology known to host world-class mineral deposits is buried and hidden from view by later sediments. Led by geophysicist Mark Lindsay at the University of WA, the CET research team developed innovative processing techniques to improve the quality of conventional geophysical constraint, and applied cutting-edge machine…

A BREAKTHROUGH in Australian-made integrated hardware and digital technology can now be used as a tool for the remote management of onsite workforce COVID-19 transmission risk in real-time. The digital enablement of the units, named Bat Booths, manufactured by Mideco and developed by Pulse Mining Systems, will not only assist mining and quarrying operations to keep rolling during the pandemic, but also help to protect frontline workers from dust-related respiratory illnesses and other on-going work-related health threats. Bat Booth was originally marketed as a simple but effective device for reducing the risk to workers from dust-related respiratory illnesses such as CWP (black lung disease) and silicosis. The strategic alliance between Mideco and Pulse led to the development of real-time business…

AFTER 18 months of successful field trials conducted across three WA mine sites, MineWare has announced the launch of its Argus Wheel Loader (WL) system—an OEM independent wheel loader monitoring system that lifts productivity and reduces cost per tonne in real time. Argus WL delivers real-time feedback to the wheel loader operator via an intuitive touchscreen to make material handling and loading jobs safer, faster and more accurate. MineWare marketing and sales vice president Roy Pater said Argus WL extended the company’s portfolio of monitoring systems as customers continue to digitise their operations and leverage real-time information across more of their ground engaging equipment. “Building on the success of our world-leading Argus and Pegasys monitoring systems for electric rope shovels,…