TRAINING OVERVIEW

Training and mentoring is a crucial objective of the Centre Future Leaders Program

Delivering on our 2021 plans, 2022 saw the commencement of the ‘Future Leaders (training) Program’. This program incorporates tailored training plans for PhDs and ECRs along with allmember learning and skill-building opportunities.

A key objective of the program is to ensure COEMinerals PhDs and ECRs have the opportunity to gain professional development and personal growth over the course of their tenure within the Centre of specific relevance to their growth as a person and to their career stage. Our overall aim is to ensure they are trained as a new generation of research, STEM & minerals sector leaders. The training plans cover the following categories:

ƒ Mentoring

ƒ Academic Development

ƒ Professional Skills

ƒ Other (incorporating technical, innovation/ commercialisation, etc)

Where possible the PhD and ECR training opportunities include industry engagement, site visits and tours which provide hands-on experience and create direct connections with the minerals sector. Centre members representing multiple nodes participated in Industry site visits throughout the year at multiple mine sites across the country. Industry involvement at the Annual Conference enabled all Centre members to make a directconnection with sector leaders and innovators, in particular through Gaddie Pitch and mentoring panel sessions.

Member Training

In addition to the Future Leaders Program, all COEMinerals members undertook training during our annual conference in July, as well as online throughout the year.

Learning Beyond the Lab: Future Leader mine site visits

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Communication Excellence

The all-staff training consisted of media training, social media training, responsible research conduct and GEDI workshops.

Ad hoc training was offered by various nodes in fields of flotation and coarse particle processing, supported by node-specific initiatives.

There is no better way to understand the potential of positive change in minerals processing and the scale of community and industry challenges to be solved, than leaving the lab.

Sector collaboration is delivered as part of wideranging professional development and learning experiences at our Centre of Excellence, and site visits in particular provide the Centre’s PhD students and ECRs a fuller understanding of the role new and innovative mineral recovery technology is playing to make minerals processing more sustainable. While on-site, they also gain valuable insights about site operations and logistics, waste reduction techniques and other measures to minimise environmental impact across the value-chain.

COEMinerals Future Leader on-site visits in 2022 included:

These visits assist in making industry connections which help spark new ideas and spurs conversations that may lead to new research insights and/or future career path opportunities for our Future Leaders.

- Flotation Chemistry Course

- Multiscale modelling of fractal-like particles

- Understanding the ore breakage fundamentals for real-time process performance prediction, control and optimisation

- Dry processing

Commercialisation / innovation / Intellectual Property Industry

- Research to Industry Translation (Supervisors Workshop)

- Research to Industry Translation

AI, MCRs and AIs and ECRs

- Gaddie Pitch to Industry PhDs and ECRs

- 3-Minute Thesis Workshop

Mentoring Online Mini Mentoring Session PhDs and ECRs

Mentoring Panel Session and ECRs

ƒ PhDs and ECRs from UQ, Monash, UOM and Deakin nodes visiteing Glencore Australia’s Mt Isa mine site, exploring minerals processing technology, sustainability measures and considering operational efficiencies

ƒ PhDs and ECRs from the UOM node visited Agnico Eagle Mines Limited’s Fosterville gold mine (near Bendigo, Victoria), delivering a veritable ‘gold mine’ of learning experiences, including enabling PhDs and ECRs to see froth flotation cells operating at scale for mineral/metal separation as well as other ecoinnovations on site.

ƒ PhDs and ECRs representing UON, UOM, UniSA (and others attending the RFC Upscaling symposium) visited Glencore’s Hunter Valley (NSW) operations to see the Centre-developed REFLUX™ Flotation Cell, in action