Uni teams up with miners to improve energy efficiency

15th October 2020 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Researchers from the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute have formed a consortium with resource industry partners, including Glencore, Anglo American, Newcrest Mining, Newmont Mining and Aeris Resources, to develop improved energy efficiency for mineral processing operations.

In a statement this week, the University of Queensland said that the collaborative consortium for coarse particle processing (CPR) research would run for an initial five-year period, and would tackle multidisciplinary aspects of CPR such as flotation, comminution, classification, and equipment design and process chemistry.

The processing of coarse particles is considered one of the key research areas for developing improved energy efficiency of mineral processing operations.

The consortium would also contribute towards global challenges such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the mitigation of human-made climate change.

“This consortium brings together depth and breadth of expertise and significant technical skill, and it shows the willingness of industry to work closely with university researchers to tackle complex problems and have an impact,” said programme chair Professor Neville Plint.

Newmont director of processing Dr Ronel Kappes said that the company had identified coarse particle recovery as a key enabling technology to focus on, in order to improve future processing efficiencies.

“The consortium project is an important step in technology development in order to leverage future coarse particle recovery applications,” she added.