Takeover target Rio Tinto has established a partnership with Curtin University which will see the launch of the mining giant's second innovation centre, the Materials and Sensing Centre.
Takeover target Rio Tinto has established a partnership with Curtin University which will see the launch of the mining giant's second innovation centre, the Materials and Sensing Centre.
Takeover target Rio Tinto has established a partnership with Curtin University which will see the launch of the mining giant's second innovation centre, the Materials and Sensing Centre.
Speaking to delegates at an iron ore conference today in Perth, Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief Sam Walsh said the centre will complement work already being done at the first centre, the Rio Tinto Centre for Mine Automation.
The first centre is a $21 million partnership with the University of Sydney and was announced last year.
Mr Walsh said both Rio's innovation arm and iron ore division will jointly contribute to a funding package of $10.5 million over an initial five year period.
The centre will focus on Rio's goal of an automated mine of the future using sensing technology and new materials, two key areas of an automated "mine of the future".
The new centre will also have direct links to leading research groups around the world including Eastern Europe, South America and China.
"The centre will lead the way for us in developing a step-change technology in the open pit mining industry and also in underground mining," Mr Walsh told delegates.
"Sensing is critical to the task of iron ore mining, governing how we go about grade and purity control, mining sequencing, equipment deployment or waste discrimination in the processing of ore.
"Material engineering and science address how material can best be deployed in our excavation and transportation of ore and how new materials may dramatically change some of the basic mining processes."
New developments in the field will change the way Rio can deploy equipment, increase energy efficiency and improve maintenance performance, Mr Walsh added.
The centre will be led by Dr Vladimir Golovanevskiy who has extensive experience in materials research, including the Mir-10 space program, and access to an extensive global network of experts in the field.
Rio Tinto's Pilbara iron ore operations and its underground copper operations will benefit from technology developed at the latest centre.