Mining Magazine October 2019 | Page 75

“ BHP HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED ITS HEAP LEACH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TRIAL IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA ( ADELAIDE ), CONFIRMING THE VIABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY TO EXTRACT COPPER , URANIUM , GOLD AND SILVER AT OLYMPIC DAM ”
“ BHP HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED ITS HEAP LEACH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TRIAL IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA ( ADELAIDE ), CONFIRMING THE VIABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY TO EXTRACT COPPER , URANIUM , GOLD AND SILVER AT OLYMPIC DAM ”
— Janine Herzig , President , AusIMM technology is the world ’ s first automated mill relining machine , which has been developed by RME ( Russell Mineral Equipment ) in my hometown of Toowoomba .”
Austmine is keen to engage communities with projects like its women in mining initiative , which has been developed to encourage undergraduates from different disciplines to take work placements in the industry and improve perceptions of the sector across Australia . “ By the time they finished their placement , 82 % were saying it was a potential job avenue ,” says Read . “ People aren ’ t seeing swinging axes and shovels anymore , they see digital control rooms in Perth ; the whole mining community is very different from the public perception of the mine fields .” Moorhead agrees : “ If the kids of today see mining as part of the solution rather than part of the problem around things like quality and climate risk , and you add to that the technology idolised , then we will be in a good place .”
The need for digital skills across the industry makes pathways like these essential as the opportunities provided by automation , along with the ability to deploy sensors to collect data , are vital believes Herzig . “ Smart data is key and finding ways to extract what we need from it ,” she says . “ AI and machine
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