PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A new report commissioned by the commonwealth government has revealed that Australia’s resources sector has delivered more than just commodities.
The report, titled 'Australian Mining Industry: more than just shovels and being the lucky country', found that between 1994 and 2011, 6 539 patents were filed for Australian mining inventions.
The mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector was the primary filer, accounting for about 76% of the publications, followed by operating miners and publicly funded entities, such as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the University of Queensland.
Author Emma Francis noted that the operating miners were primarily concerned with new methods of processing of ore, specifically the refining of ore and the production of iron or steel. METS firms filed patents mainly in dredging and soil shifting equipment, as well as gearing systems, electric switches and relays, while publicly funded entities filed in areas such as investigating different material properties, digital data processing and the separation of materials using evaporation or distillation.
Meanwhile, the report identified Australia and the US as the main focus regions for the punters of the Australian inventions, followed by Canada, China, Japan and Europe. Central and South American countries such as Mexico and Brazil were also on the list as possible export destinations.
The government’s intellectual property division commissioned the report.