Research Strategy

The research program activities are coordinated to solve overarching mining challenges.

Research focus:

• Investing in intellectual capacity to solve future industry challenges
• Fundamental research aimed at addressing key industry grand challenges
• Applied research and technology implementation and transfer
• Developing human resources to meet industry technology needs

Research implementation:

Our mission is to develop industry solutions, which provide both incremental, and step-change productivity increases for the major global mining challenges.

• A research vision is based on the needs of the mining industry in a 10 to 20+ year time-frame
• Research Roadmaps focused to deliver industry technology needs in an 8+ year time-frame
• Technology transfer plan to identify and deliver valuable industry outcomes from each 8 year research roadmap
• Ongoing incremental outcomes delivered at project milestones.

Surface mass material movement

• Reduce mining costs by 50%, reduce time by 50%
• Low energy/low cost/high productivity/high capacity transport system

Underground mass material movement

• Reduce mining costs by 25% and increase mining rate by 25%
• Increase productivity, increase recovery, decrease dilution
• Low energy/low cost/high productivity/high capacity transport system

Underground selective mining

• Reduce mining costs by 25%, increase productivity, increase recovery, decrease dilution
• Maximise head grade

Mine development

• Increase advance rate by 50%, reduce cost by 25%, improve performance
• High productivity excavation and optimised logistics
• Mining in challenging environments
• Significant depth, high/low temp, high rainfall, shallow underwater

Our four research program areas include mining processes (Surface, Underground, Hard Rock and Coal), and the three major engineering support areas for mining operations (Labour, Energy, Maintenance).