Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354656
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Particulate Science and Technology Network. Particulate Science and Technology (PST) is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field concerned with particle-related phenomena at different time and length scales and represents a very significant research and development effort in Australia for many years. This network is formed by linking the world-recognized research centres/groups with different expertise. Its aim is to provide greater collaboration among the Australian and overseas re ....Particulate Science and Technology Network. Particulate Science and Technology (PST) is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field concerned with particle-related phenomena at different time and length scales and represents a very significant research and development effort in Australia for many years. This network is formed by linking the world-recognized research centres/groups with different expertise. Its aim is to provide greater collaboration among the Australian and overseas researchers and enhance the scale and focus of particulate research. It will help develop and maintain Australia's leading position in PST, generating massive research outcomes and training that can lead to improvement in resource, energy, process and allied industries.Read moreRead less
Managing Contaminant Metals in Complex Hydrometallurgical Processes; Meeting techno-economic, environmental and operability objectives. Sustainability of the minerals industry is predicated on being able to refine metals from increasingly lower-grade ores. This brings with it the critical problem of managing all contaminant elements present to ensure overall economic and environmental performance. Hydrometallurgical processes are favoured, though difficulties arise in controlling product charact ....Managing Contaminant Metals in Complex Hydrometallurgical Processes; Meeting techno-economic, environmental and operability objectives. Sustainability of the minerals industry is predicated on being able to refine metals from increasingly lower-grade ores. This brings with it the critical problem of managing all contaminant elements present to ensure overall economic and environmental performance. Hydrometallurgical processes are favoured, though difficulties arise in controlling product character to suit downstream processing. This project will develop a fundamental understanding of precipitation processes for optimal recovery of contaminant elements (for a novel zinc process case study), considering the quantitative relationship between all major physico-chemical and engineering features. This will lead to enhanced process designs to meet techno-economic, environmental and operability objectivesRead moreRead less
Control Of Aggregate Structure, Settling And Dewatering In Mineral Tailings Processing. Modification of aggregate structures in mineral processing will lead to improved dewatering in tailings operations. In mine site rehabilitation and tailings utilisation, technology developed in this project may save not only millions of dollars in more efficient processing and tailing deposition but also help to better reuse our limited national water resources.
Mechanisms for Pyrite Oxidation Control in Acid Mine Drainage. The annual costs of acid rock drainage (ARD) management at operating sites in Australia are $120M p.a.; over 15 years, a total cost of $1.8 billion for the whole industry. There are limitations to the ability of existing systems to cope with high capacity ARD, to the long-term effectiveness of these systems and high potential costs/liability of remediation. The value of the project outcomes to industry and government will be in reduc ....Mechanisms for Pyrite Oxidation Control in Acid Mine Drainage. The annual costs of acid rock drainage (ARD) management at operating sites in Australia are $120M p.a.; over 15 years, a total cost of $1.8 billion for the whole industry. There are limitations to the ability of existing systems to cope with high capacity ARD, to the long-term effectiveness of these systems and high potential costs/liability of remediation. The value of the project outcomes to industry and government will be in reduction of ARD release, well-understood long-term outcomes, reduced cost of treatments and improved control. The scale of these savings is in the tens of $M p.a. but also in potential improvements in environment (acid and toxic metals in streams), health and social quality of life in mining areas and towns.Read moreRead less