Curtin University will play a key role in the development of a more sustainable and productive minerals industry after the announcement of $215 million in funding for the new Mineral Exploration Cooperative Research Centre (MinEx CRC).
Curtin University is a key research partner in the MinEx CRC, the funding for which establishes a national research initiative aimed at developing technologies to increase the discovery of mineral deposits.
Federal Government funding of $50 million and $165 million in cash and in-kind support from industry partners will be used by the MinEx CRC to deliver more effective, safe and environmentally friendly drilling technologies.
Curtin University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Chris Moran said Curtin was proud of its role in helping to secure funding that would be used to significantly bolster Australia’s minerals industry.
“The MinEx CRC is another example of Curtin’s endeavour in the field of minerals research and demonstrates our ability and drive to play a key role in delivering outcomes aimed at resolving industry challenges,” Professor Moran said.
“We look forward to being a meaningful contributor to the MinEx CRC and its research initiatives to advance Australia’s minerals industry in a sustainable way.”
Professor Brian Evans, in the Petroleum Engineering discipline at Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, said the establishment of the MinEx CRC was in response to a decline in the discovery of new mineral deposits, which stood to negatively impact Australia’s economy.
“Curtin has continued to play a leadership role in the minerals and mining industry in order to help develop an innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly future for this important sector of the Australian economy,” Professor Evans said.
The MinEx CRC will commence on July 1, 2018, and will be jointly based in Perth and Adelaide.
Among the MinEx CRC partners are mining companies Anglo-American, Barrick, BHP, and South 32 and Mining Equipment Technology and Service companies Atlas Copco, Geotec Boyles, HiSeis, Imdex, Mackay Drilling, Olympus, Sandvik, and Wassara. Other partners include Geological Survey Organisations Geoscience Australia and the Geological Surveys of South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales and research organisations Curtin University, Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia, University of South Australia, Adelaide, University of Newcastle, University of Western Australia and the CSIRO.
