Comet confirms oil waste R&D deal with Flinders University

Mineral explorer Comet Resources Ltd has finalised a research and development contract with Flinders University for work required to demonstrate the commercialisation of the company's bacteria-based oil waste technology.

Flinders will collaborate with oil separation and analysis expertise from Murdoch university.

Professor Andy Ball will lead the project at Flinders, while Dr Claire Bird from the UK is one of two international experts to be recruited by Flinders. Associate Professor Robert Trengove leads the oil separation and analysis team from Murdoch.

The announcement comes less than a week after the company received $1 million in funding from the South Australian Government for its Environmental Oil Solutions project.

The project, based in Adelaide, is for the development of a bacteria technology platform for the clean up and recycling of oil wastes.

The South Australian Government will be funding the project over three years.

The research will be used to recycle oil waste by altering the properties of the waste oil so it can be reused.

At the time, Comet chairman Roj Jones told WA Business News that, once the company had demonstrated the technology worked, it would look for further opportunities in other states.

Mr Jones said the technology developed through the Environmental Oil Solutions project offered a significant improvement to current cleaning methods, which involved chemical additives, and dumping or incineration of waste.

"The work over the next nine months will go through a process of confirming that the bacteria can be produced at commercial prices and quantities," said Mr Jones.

The company believes the technology developed from the project had the potential to be used on any hydrocarbon oil waste that was surplus to requirements or became contaminated after use.

Last November, the company entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of environmental research company BIO-Tec Pty Ltd related to various patent applications and intellectual property associated with BIO-Tec's BIO-Paragone bacteria technology platform for the clean up and recycling of oil wastes.

The assets are now held in Comet's 100 per cent-owned subsidiary Environmental Oil Solutions Pty Ltd.