First stage of unique solar-wind-battery hybrid project opens at Agnew gold mine

03rd Dec 2019

A 23MW hybrid generation project developed by EDL at the Agnew gold mine has commenced operations, integrating solar into a gas and diesel micro-grid that will eventually add wind and solar in the first of its type project for a mine. Read more here

CSIRO 3D laser scanner invention set to revolutionise mining

10th Nov 2019

CSIRO engineers have developed a world first “flameproof” 3D laser scanning device that can “see things our eyes cannot”. ExScan is set to revolutionise the industry, allowing miners to leave the coal face and manage longwall operations remotely from a control centre above ground.

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Chart of the day: Global oil production (1965 to 2017)

10th Oct 2019

A great dynamic chart showing monthly global oil production (thousands of barrels per day) by country from January 1965 to December 2017.

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Drawing the line between rock types

05th Sep 2019

CSIRO developed Data Mosaic – a software tool automates the interpretation of different rock types in drillcore to enable rapid and reliable geological logging. The result is faster logging and more accurate 3D geological models. Read the full article here.

Virtual core: a library of Australia’s mineralogy

29th Aug 2019

It’s estimated that there are more than 10 million metres of drillcore samples in vast warehouses around Australia, crammed with invaluable information for government, industry and researchers. A virtual library can facilitate access to all this knowledge. How do you fit the 10 million metres of information into open-access online resource? Read the full article here.

Update: Breaking the mould: gold-digging fungi found in WA

01st Jul 2019

Update to our recent post about Fungi found in WA containing Gold: Last week in Bendigo a family stumbled across a rare gold nugget worth $35,000. Where did the nugget come from? A gold-coated fungi near Boddington in Western Australia. Read the full article here.

Researchers Teach a Robot to make Breakfast

13th Jun 2019

The latest news in Robots has seen researchers teaching a robot to make breakfast. This is more important than it sounds when you consider that until now robots have been unable to coordinate two-handed movements in the same way that humans do.

Researchers are working on improving Robotic two hand movements such as passing one item from one hand to the other and keeping on object still while the other hand moves such as when stirring a cooking pot and cutting. Read the full article here.

New Evidence Shows That Diamonds Are Made From Recycled Seabed

13th Jun 2019

Cosmos Magazine recently published a story about new evidence linking recycled Seabed to the creation of much loved and adored diamonds. It was originally thought that the salts trapped inside diamonds did come from the ocean and seawater but at that point they couldn’t be tested. Now it is known that marine sediment which comes into close contact with a type of rock common in the mantle, known as peridotite, is a key part of the diamond creation process. Read the full article here.

Water Quality Control in SEQ Thanks to SAMMI the Robot

13th Jun 2019

New technology SAMMI the Robot is being used to monitor and test the quality of water in SEQ. Powered by the sun, SAMMI spends its days conducting quality monitoring throughout difficult to access locations. This cutting edge technology has made testing the water in SEQ safer, quicker, and more easily accessible for difficult-to-reach locations. Read the full article here.

Energy Industry Ripe for Change Thanks to Digital Technologies

13th Jun 2019

The energy sector has been issued a warning that it is ripe to be “Uberised” with digital technologies set to shake-up the industry. Typically criticised for being slow-to-change the Energy Industry is being pushed to implement changes similar to large world-wide companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon. Read the full article here.