Category: Technology & Innovation

The Emesent team. Image: CSIRO.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   DRONE technology developed by CSIRO Data61 spinoff Emesent has received a $3.5 million boost to bring its autonomous prototype, Hovermap, into the mainstream market.   The technology, which draws on 10 years of research by CSIRO’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems group, was designed to automate the collection of data in underground areas that were too dangerous or difficult for people to survey or navigate, including stopes or ore passes. Emersent’s Hovermap can be integrated with drones to enable them to be deployed in GPS-denied environments without a human controller to create 3D maps, images, videos or record gas readings. “Hovermap enables the mining industry to safely inspect inaccessible areas of...

BHP vessels near Port Coloso in Chile. Image: BHP.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   BHP has begun trialling drones across its ocean freight operations in an effort to increase safety and efficiencies for the business.   The global mining giant has been using drone technology for years across its iron ore mines in the Pilbara, Olympic Dam site in South Australia and coal operations in QLD to help measure stockpiles, and avoid working at height. The trial across it ocean freight division will see it play a key role in a tablet-based technology package, which incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a “digital view” of the ship. BHP Marketing Freight vice president Rashpal Bhatti said all of the company’s chartered...

BY JESSICA CUMMINS   A NEW $218 million research collaboration has launched in Adelaide that will develop new technologies to increase the discovery of mineral deposits across the country.   The MinEx Cooperative Research Centre (MinEx CRC) was opened at the Australian Geoscience Council Convention in Adelaide on 15 October. The centre, backed by a $50 million Federal Government grant, was a collaboration between 34 companies in the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) and majors including BHP, South32, Anglo American and Barrick, which will commit $165 million over the next decade. It would also be supported by research organisations including the CSIRO, University of Adelaide, Curtin University, University of South Australia, the University of Western Australia, University of Newcastle,...

The old pit at Kapunda. Image: Environmental Copper Recovery.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   A GROUP of researchers and miners have joined forces in a two and a half year study that aims to identify and resolve key challenges with in-situ recovery (ISR) mineral extraction in mining.   The research program, led by Mining3 and ISR specialists Environmental Copper Recovery (ECR), will be undertaken at Terramin’s Kapunda copper mine in South Australia with Thor Mining, the University of Adelaide and CSIRO. The program would involve a “tangible demonstration of ISR mining” at Kapunda, providing examples to industry of how to unlock value in stranded assets. Kapunda – Australia’s first commercial copper mine – has been mothballed since the early 1900s,...

Lithium mica concentrates will be tested in a SiLeach pilot plant. Image: Lithium Australia.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   LITHIUM Australia will commence testing lithium mica to determine if the material has potential to become base feedstock for its proposed large-scale pilot plant (LSPP) in WA.   Lithium mica, long considered a waste material by the mining industry, will be sourced from one of two sites in the Eastern Goldfields, and tested at ANSTO Minerals’ (a division of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) Lucas Heights laboratories in Sydney. Lithium Australia managing director Adrian Griffin said WA’s lithium fields hosted abundant pegmatites, many of which contained lithium micas. He said the company had already undertaken substantial bench-scale test work...

Image: Rio Tinto.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   AUSTRALIA’S mining sector has an opportunity to cement itself as a world-leader in the robotic space, according to new research by The Australian Centre for Robotic Vision.   Its newly launched Robotics Roadmap revealed mining was already ahead of other sectors, but the path to commercialisation was a key barrier in transitioning robotics from the R&D phase to market-ready product. Driverless trucks and drones were already deployed across major operations, delivering productivity efficiencies, improved safety, and cost savings. However, other areas to be unlocked included robots for mining in hazardous and remote geographic areas; using robots to mine on-demand when resources were required; developing independently aware robotic systems to reduce reliance on...

Images of flake (left) versus spherical natural graphite (right). Syrah’s BAM strategy will initially focus on precursor (unpurified, purified spherical graphite) and finished BAM product (coated spherical graphite). Image: Syrah Resources.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   ASX-listed Syrah Resources will become a battery anode material (BAM) producer, after purchasing a US industrial site to establish downstream processing facilities.   The $US1.225 Vidalia industrial site in Louisiana covers 25 acres and has an existing 50,000 square foot building. Once developed, the commercial plant will process graphite from Syrah’s Balama project in northern Mozambique to produce BAM for anodes in lithium ion batteries. The 60,000tpa capacity plant will have an initial output of 20,000tpa using proven technology and processes. Syrah managing director...

Copyright © 2018 Rio Tinto. Image: Christian Sprogoe Photography.   BY REUBEN ADAMS   AUSTRALIA’S first nationally accredited courses in automation will be delivered for the first time in 2019.   This is the next step of a landmark partnership between South Metropolitan TAFE and Rio Tinto announced in October last year, with the miner contributing $2 million towards a new curriculum including robotics, data analytics and digital inclusion education. Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said the new wider curriculum being developed would enhance capabilities of those in the mining sector and form part of the learning pathways for those seeking to enter a range of industries applying automation and technology. The proposed curriculum will be completed...