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 implementation of restoration activities and increased supply of closure and post-closure products and services.
National science agency CSIRO expected the initiative to provide a unique collaborative research opportunity to support regional communities facing mine closures.
CSIRO will bring expertise across environment, mining technology, systems integration, and data processing and management into the new CRC, supporting the collaborative research program and assisting the CRC to establish nationally recognised demonstration sites where technology and solutions can be shown to bring positive benefits to the community and to mine closures.
Senior CSIRO scientist Jason Kirby said the scale of investment across community, government and industry would have major benefits for regional Australia with several large mines reaching their end and closing in the near future.
“This effort will support regions to transition to a more prosperous and sustainable post-mining future, acknowledging the need for whole-of-community benefit, including indigenous futures, environmental restoration, and economic outcomes,” he said.
“The demonstration sites will provide an avenue to assess, test and showcase technologies and solutions through a unique collaborative platform.”
