Industry future unlocked with Trailblazer
The Federal Department of Education’s $380m Trailblazer Universities Program has established six Trailblazers focused on national priorities including resources technology, critical minerals and the clean energy transition.
Under the program, 14 universities and 220 industry partners have also co-invested $1.14b to build new research capabilities and drive commercialisation outcomes to accelerate Australia’s innovation agenda.
The Resource Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer program continues to build new research capabilities and drive commercialisation in resources and critical minerals industries across Australia.
The program aims to transform the way industry, universities and researchers work together and support innovative startups and business growth in this sector.
One of the projects to receive funding from the Trailblazer included the auto-optimisation for shutdown maintenance scheduling at Curtin University.
A major outcome of the project was the creation of optimised shutdown schedules that can reduce downtime by 25% and headcount by 20% for large shutdowns. This means that systems can be back online faster for increased productivity and cost savings.
Curtin University deputy vice-chancellor and research professor Melinda Fitzgerald says that the program demonstrates the power of university-industry collaboration to deliver real impact.
“Since 2023, the Trailblazer program has been redefining how Australia drives innovation by aligning research with industry needs,” she said.
“At Curtin, more than $100m in industry co-investment into our resources technology and critical minerals trailblazer shows strong belief in this model.
“It’s delivering collaborative and industry-based impact in one of the nation’s most vital sectors at speed and scale.
“Continued government support is key to sustaining that momentum and further strengthening Australia’s innovation ecosystem.”
Amongst the 220 industry partners are AngloGold Ashanti (ASX: AGG), Glencore, Gold Fields, Newmont (ASX: NEM), Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN), South32 (ASX: S32) and Sandvik.
“We are proud to collaborate with Curtin to find innovative solutions to challenges within our complex scientific, environmental and social planning processes to locate, extract and process natural resources,” Newmont head of processing and global technical services Deon Annandale said.
“Working in partnership with Curtin will help us to co-develop novel solutions in processing and mining and to continuously improve sustainable mining practices in areas such as tailings management and land rehabilitation.”