Researchers have delivered four world-leading mining technologies ready for industry trials, positioning partnering companies at the forefront of next-generation, data-driven mining.
Developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Integrated Operations for Complex Resources (IOCR), the technologies have progressed beyond research validation and are now seeking industry partners for pilot deployment and commercial collaboration.
The innovations include:
- Rapid updating of orebody knowledge using integrated sensor data, including structural information – Dr Sultan Abulkhair
- AI-driven mine-to-mill optimisation linking resource characteristics to downstream processing and financial performance – Pouya Nobahar
- Cave draw-point operations and fragmentation sensing systems – Ahmadreza Khodayari
- Real-time, protein-based gold biosensor technology – Dr Akhil Kumar
Together, the technologies aim to deliver sharper operational decision-making, improved productivity and reduced uncertainty in complex mining environments.
Professor Peter Dowd, Director of the Training Centre and Professor of Mining Engineering at Adelaide University, said the projects are ready for real-world application.
“These are not early-stage concepts,” Professor Dowd said. “They have been developed to solve real operational challenges and are ready to be deployed in partnership with industry.”
Professor Dowd said that industry collaboration is now critical to ensure that these innovative technologies can successfully be transferred to relevant operations.
“The capability exists, the validation is complete and we are seeking forward-looking partners prepared to trial and deploy these technologies in operational environments,” Professor Dowd said. “To remain successful, the resources sector must be prepared to assess and deploy new technologies. The companies that engage now will not only strengthen their own operations; they will help shape the future competitiveness of our industry.”
Since commencing in 2021, the Training Centre IOCR has delivered 16 PhD projects and three postdoctoral research programs focused on automated, integrated and optimised mining systems powered by advanced sensors, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
Researchers, including Dr Sultan Abulkhair, Pouya Nobahar, Ahmadreza Khodayari and Dr Akhil Kumar, are now transitioning from research delivery to active industry engagement.
“We are excited to trial our technology and further illustrate its value to our industry partners,” said Nobahar. “Existing platforms take two days to compute one million scenarios. Using our AI-driven mine-to-mill optimisation system, this is reduced to 10 minutes.”
“Our protein-based biosensor technology provides environmentally friendly, real-time detection of gold presence and concentration,” Dr Kumar said. “Our system is a quicker, more efficient alternative to existing expensive, time-consuming X-ray and off-site lab methods. Our core value proposition enables miners to save significant resources by avoiding the processing non-gold-bearing ore.”
“Simulation time for linking particle size to material flow has been dramatically reduced from 2.5 months to one week by pioneering the use of physics engines for mining simulations,” said Khodayari. “Optimising particle size is expected to increase energy efficiency in crushers by 20 to 25 per cent, offering substantial financial benefits.”
“Our original PhD research projects were developed independently of one another, but we are now exploring integrating projects with crossover to deliver a system with maximum impact,” Dr Abulkhair said. “Our technology focuses on updating resource knowledge and models instantly to utilise the full value of smart sensing tools, addressing a significant gap in the mining industry.”
Professor Bill Skinner, who leads the mineral processing theme, said the Training Centre’s integrated structure has accelerated pathways from research to deployment, and provided deep connections between PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and technology innovators.
“By aligning research directly with operational realities, we have helped to significantly shortened the path from innovation to application,” Professor Skinner said.
While four technologies are ready for immediate industry engagement, further innovations from the centre’s research pipeline will soon progress toward commercialisation.
Mining companies, METS organisations and technology partners interested in pilot programs, collaborative trials, or detailed technical briefings on the four projects outlined in this release are encouraged to contact the Training Centre via iocr@adelaide.edu.au.
