BHP Plans to Recycle Old Tyres into Oil, Steel, and More

03rd Nov 2020

BHP rolls out a new sustainability initiative which will turn old tyres into oil, carbon black, syngas and steel. BHP has been working to reduce the amount of carbon emissions that their company creates and this is just one of the many steps that they’re taking to push for a sustainable future for Australia. Not only are their new plans great for the environment but they’ll open up new jobs to handle the increased output.

Read the full article here.

Ever Wondered How Much Gold is Left in the World?

12th Oct 2020

Recently due to the world-wide pandemic, gold prices hit a record high of $2,000 per ounce (28 Grams). Gold is in demand as an investment item, symbol of wealth, and its more practical application within a range of electrical equipment. But like most commodities that are mined, gold will eventually run out.

A new article from the BBC covers the current state of the gold mining industry, how much is left and other unlikely places that we may need to begin mining such as the moon. Read the full article here.

A Sustainable Future for Battery Usage

07th Sep 2020

CSIRO is currently tackling one of the biggest impending environmental problems that will soon face the world. Single use batteries make up a large portion of Australia’s waste, with only 97% of batteries being properly recycled. Not only that but batteries are extremely different to recycle and make use of the entire battery rather than just parts of it. CSIRO’s plan is to reduce batteries in landfill sites, work to make them viable and sustainable for future consumption, reduce mining battery resources, and impact the worlds sustainability approach to battery recycling in a positive way. Read the full article and plan for future sustainability here.

BHP introduces new remote-in, remote-out system to adjust to travel restrictions caused by COVID-19

04th Aug 2020

BHP has announced that they will start executing new travel arrangements called remote-in, remote-out. Due to recent restrictions to do with COVID-19 many companies have had to pivot and adjust the way they approach their daily work. BHP states that this new technology will help them to overcome limitations associated with phone calls and video conferences, while avoiding the high cost and time investment involved in flying people to site when unexpected breakdowns and equipment downtime occur.

Read the full article here.

Physicists have unraveled the two processes powering the sun

16th Jul 2020

Physicists have discovered a new class of neutrinos that power the sun, meaning they have discovered the full spectrum of the two processes that power the sun. The sun is powered by two sets of nuclear fusion reactions that exist within the sun’s core. Both of these nuclear fusion reactions predominate the sun’s core and produce the lightweight subatomic particles in abundance. 

Within the sun’s core exists an ongoing process when hydrogen fuses into helium in two ways. The first way is called the ‘proton-proton-proton’ chain. This chain expels about 99% of the sun’s energy. The other group however are the fusion reactions mentioned above. This is known as the CNO cycle which is named after Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen. Previously the neutrons from the CNO cycle were undiscovered, until now. 

Now, for the first time, neutrinos from the second set of reactions (CNO Cycle) have been spotted. This was discovered through the Borexino experiment. You can read more about the experiment here https://www.sciencenews.org/article/neutrinos-sun-core-nuclear-fusion-reactions-borexino

Lithium: The Rock Star Resource

06th Jan 2020

From mobile phones and wireless headphones, to electric cars and house battery systems, Lithium has been in the headlines for a number of years as the future of energy storage through batteries. But what exactly is lithium? How does it make a battery work? And what does the future look like for those who supply this rock star resource? Watch more from resourc.ly here

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.

To read the full article, click here

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.

To read the full article, click here

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.