Mineral Processing
When reliable environmental performance data doesn’t exist, simulation can step in – and according to IGO Nova’s Zachary Hearne, it could give Australian producers a market advantage.
PLS’ Pilgangoora Operation delivered a standout June quarter, with production volumes up 77 percent and unit operating costs down 10 percent compared to the previous quarter thanks to the integration of the world’s largest lithium ore sorting plant.
Sensor-based sorting is no longer just a niche preconcentration step - it’s fast becoming a critical pillar of intelligent gold processing.
Rare earth metallurgy is unlike any other field in mining, and as Damien Krebs told AusIMM’s Metallurgical Society in his webinar Rare Earth Metallurgy 101, every single deposit is a puzzle that defies cookie-cutter solutions.
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.
Dr Sandra Occhipinti, research director in minerals at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is leading a team of more than 100 scientists focused on one of the most complex challenges in modern exploration: how to accelerate mineral discovery in covered terrains while simultaneously improving geometallurgical insight across the mining value chain.
At the sharp end of metallurgical decision-making, where feasibility meets financial risk, one recurring theme echoes loudest: if you don’t know your orebody, you don’t know your project.
In a mining landscape increasingly defined by lower ore grades, ESG scrutiny, and complex feedstocks, recovery performance has never been more critical.
As mineral exploration enters an era defined by data complexity and digital transformation, one of the biggest hurdles geoscientists face is not a lack of information, but too much of it.
