process optimisation
Australia’s mining sector could be overlooking a low-risk, high-reward tailings management method that’s been delivering stability and efficiency in other parts of the world for decades.
At the Life of Mine | Mine Waste and Tailings Conference 2025 in Brisbane, University of Queensland PhD candidate Yue Xiong unveiled a promising alternative to radiation-based monitoring of tailings slurry pipelines - one that could make real-time density measurement safer, cheaper and more adaptable across mine sites.
A cloud-hosted machine learning model, linked securely to a plant control system, has helped eliminate costly surging in dense medium cyclones - and in one case, safeguarded millions in weekly coal revenue.
From the outside, the conversation around digital mining often gets framed in broad terms - automation, Information of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) but for those working underground or in control rooms, the real question is more practical: how do these tools actually solve the daily challenges?
For Stewart Johnston, Account Manager - Mine Electrification and Automation at ABB Australia, the key lies in making information usable, timely, and connected across the mining value chain.
In a mining landscape increasingly defined by lower ore grades, ESG scrutiny, and complex feedstocks, recovery performance has never been more critical.
As the mining industry edges closer to a tipping point on tailings management, a panel of global experts at the 2025 Life of Mine | Mine Waste and Tailings Conference in Brisbane issued a clear message: discipline in operations, humility in design, and a more adaptive mindset will be critical to preventing the next tailings disaster.
As global demand for high-purity copper climbs in step with electrification and renewable energy targets, attention is turning to the tankhouses that produce this critical metal.
A quiet revolution may be underway in the metallurgical processing world, and it starts not with a new orebody, but with the way water is removed from copper concentrate.
In the high-stakes world of minerals processing, separating fine wine from snake oil isn’t just a metaphor — it’s a business imperative.
