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3 September 1998 |
Ref 98/207 |
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On 1 September, the WA Department of Mines and Energy transferred responsibility for managing its Mineral Processing Laboratories (MPL) in Perth to CSIRO Minerals.
The transfer brings together, on one site and under one management structure, CSIRO's existing world-class bench-scale chemical and mineralogical capabilities with MPL's pilot-scale mineral processing equipment.
The transfer is part of a larger CSIRO strategy to address the need, long-recognised by Australia's mineral processing industry, for a national facility to carry out important scale-up R&D and pilot plant testing of new hydrometallurgical routes for mineral processing.
The MPL facility is located adjacent to CSIRO Minerals' WA laboratory where current research activities focus on alumina, precious metals and base metal processing. The research involves application of a wide range of specialised bench-scale equipment to hydrometallurgical studies of processes such as mineral characterisation, leaching, crystallisation, impurity control, biotechnology, solvent extraction, flocculation and thickener technology. This work is conducted within the AJ Parker CRC for Hydrometallurgy.
The MPL building is purpose-built for pilot-scale work and includes a comprehensive range of plant and equipment for comminution and flotation, roasting (rotating and static kilns), classification, gravity, magnetic and electrostatic separation, pressure leaching, solvent extraction and pelletisation.
With the transfer to CSIRO, there will be a substantial increase
in staff and equipment across the full range of chemical and
physical disciplines that are required to underpin pilot-scale
hydrometallurgical work. This facility will be an important
component of the second phase of the AJ Parker CRC for Hydrometallurgy,
and will provide strong R&D support to existing and emerging
mineral processing technologies.
The consolidated CSIRO site will become the largest hydrometallurgical
R&D and training precinct in WA. It will provide a "one-stop-shop"
for hydrometallurgical R&D in Australia, particularly in
WA.
More information from:
- Martin Houchin, tel: (08) 9334 8000,
- email:martin.houchin@minerals.csiro.au
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