Sustainable Minerals Institute

Last updated

Sustainable Minerals Institute
Formation2001
FounderAlban Lynch
HeadquartersLevel 4, Sir James Foots Building (No. 47A) The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4067
Location
Coordinates 27°30′02″S153°00′51″E / 27.50055°S 153.01417°E / -27.50055; 153.01417

The Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) at the University of Queensland (UQ) is a research institute focused on understanding and implementing the principles of sustainable development through engagement with industry contacts from geology to mining, processing and disposal. [1] In 2022, the institute was awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to develop research into sustainable resources for the mining industry. [2] The founder, Alban Lynch, died in 2021. [3]

Contents

Centres

SMI has six Centres: [4]

Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining

The Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) is a research centre committed to improving the social performance of the global resource industry through independent research, training and professional development, participation in multi-stakeholder dialogue processes, and student research for higher degrees. CSRM's focus is on the social, cultural, economic, and political challenges accompanying mineral resource extraction and on questions of justice, fairness, and equity. CSRM staff engage with industry, communities, and Indigenous and land-connected peoples alike. [5] The centre has a worldwide research interests, with recent publications on mining issues in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, and Suriname. [6]

CSRM was established in 2001. [7] In 2022, it had 40 staff and postgraduate students. [8] Undergraduate programs are not offered.

Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation

The Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation (CMLR) was established at OQ in 1993 and has built on more than twenty years involvement with the mining and minerals industries. CMLR is involved in a broad range of research and training projects with mining companies, industry bodies and government departments from across Australia and the world.

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Queensland</span> Public research university in Brisbane, Australia

The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an informal designation of the oldest university in each state. UQ is also a founding member of edX, Australia's leading Group of Eight and the international research-intensive Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social impact assessment</span> Reviews infrastructure and development

Social impact assessment (SIA) is a methodology to review the social effects of infrastructure projects and other development interventions. Although SIA is usually applied to planned interventions, the same techniques can be used to evaluate the social impact of unplanned events, for example, disasters, demographic change, and epidemics. SIA is important in applied anthropology, as its main goal is to deliver positive social outcomes and eliminate any possible negative or long term effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Quiggin</span> Australian economist (born 1956)

John Quiggin is an Australian economist, a professor at the University of Queensland. He was formerly an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Federation Fellow and a member of the board of the Climate Change Authority of the Australian Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saleem Ali (academic)</span> Pakistani American Australian academic (born 1973)

Saleem H. Ali is a Pakistani American Australian academic who is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware and also directs the university's Minerals, Materials and Society program. He has also held the chair in Sustainable Resources Development at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia where he retains affiliation as an Honorary Professor. He is also a senior fellow at Columbia University's Center on Sustainable Investment. Previously he was Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, and the founding director of the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security as well as a Fellow at the Gund Institute. He has collaborated on environmental and social impact assessment research on deep sea mining using Life Cycle Analysis techniques to assist policy-makers in small-island developing states, Nauru, Cook Islands, Kiribati and Tonga, who are considering such investments under the auspices of the International Seabed Authority

Mount Isa Mines Limited ("MIM") operates the Mount Isa copper, lead, zinc and silver mines near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia as part of the Glencore group of companies. For a brief period in 1980, MIM was Australia's largest company. It has pioneered several significant mining industry innovations, including the Isa Process copper refining technology, the Isasmelt smelting technology, and the IsaMill fine grinding technology, and it also commercialized the Jameson Cell column flotation technology.

Peak minerals marks the point in time when the largest production of a mineral will occur in an area, with production declining in subsequent years. While most mineral resources will not be exhausted in the near future, global extraction and production has become more challenging. Miners have found ways over time to extract deeper and lower grade ores with lower production costs. More than anything else, declining average ore grades are indicative of ongoing technological shifts that have enabled inclusion of more 'complex' processing – in social and environmental terms as well as economic – and structural changes in the minerals exploration industry and these have been accompanied by significant increases in identified Mineral Reserves.

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Heywood Bryan</span> Australian geologist, educator, and military veteran

Walter Heywood (W.H.) Bryan (1891–1966) was an Australian geologist, educator and decorated military veteran. He founded the University of Queensland Seismology Station, and was the first student at the University of Queensland to receive a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree. He served with distinction during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Kruttschnitt II</span> Australian mining engineer (1885–1974)

Julius Kruttschnitt IIMAusIMM was an American-born Australian mining manager, who helped to establish the mining industry in Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Grande, Mount Isa</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Casa Grande is a heritage-listed villa at Nettle Street, Mount Isa, City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Donoghue, Cusick & Edwards and built in 1949. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 May 1999.

Robert (Bob) Bryan, AM, is an Australian geologist who worked extensively in outback Queensland and Western Australia early in his career and has had a long term involvement in the property and mining industries in Australia and South East Asia. His lifelong achievements in mining in Australia were recognised when he was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2009 and the award of an honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland in 2010.

Frank Thomas Matthews White (1909–1971) was an Australian mining and metallurgical engineer and mineral science educator. His career included appointments in Australia, Fiji, Malaya, and Canada.

Sir James William Foots was an Australian mining engineer and Chairman of Mount Isa Mines and Chancellor of the University of Queensland.

Ray Whitmore (1920–2008) was a British mining and metallurgical engineer and academic, who specialised in research into radar, mining and metallurgical engineering and mining heritage in England and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indooroopilly Silver Mine</span>

The Indooroopilly Silver Mine is a historic silver mine at Indooroopilly, Brisbane, Australia

Sir George Read Fisher was one of Australia's leading mining executives. In 2019, he was posthumously inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition of his eminent business leadership, driving the long-term success of Mount Isa Mines and Mount Isa's growth and development as a city.

Alban Jude Lynch was a mining engineer and academic who helped develop the mineral processing teaching experience for mining students in Australia.

Paul Christopher Memmott is an Australian architect, anthropologist, academic and the Director of the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre at the University of Queensland. He is an expert on topics related to Indigenous architecture and vernacular architecture, housing, homelessness and overcrowding.

Ian MorleyISO (1904–1989) was an Australian mining engineer and administrator, who advocated for safe mining practices and reforms for the Australian mining industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim May (chemical engineer)</span> Australian chemical engineer and researcher (1934–2023)

James Richard May was an Australian chemical engineer and company director who was the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Minerals Industry Research Association Limited (AMIRA) between 1968 and 1994. He was also a fellow of a number of chartered institutions and organisations and was on various committees and academic institutes.

References

  1. "SMI_About Us". The University of Queensland . Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  2. Philipps, Michael (11 February 2022). "Coal grants boost Sustainable Mineral Institute research". Australian Mining. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  3. Barry, Derek (6 October 2021). "Farewell to founder of Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre". The North West Star. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  4. "The SMI Directors". The University of Queensland . Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  5. "CSRM Five Year Plan" (PDF).
  6. "CSRM Publications".
  7. "About SMI".
  8. "CSRM Five Year Plan" (PDF).
  9. "SALEEM HASSAN ALI CV" (PDF). University of Delaware. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  10. "Emeritus Professor David Brereton". 10 August 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  11. "Honorary Professor Martha Macintyre". 10 August 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2022.