The Australian National University will play a role in Rio Tinto’s global $240 million Centre for Future Materials over the next decade, contributing to critical minerals processing, extraction and recycling innovation, and Indigenous knowledge.
The Australian node of the global centre — which is being led by the UK’s Imperial College London — was launched on Thursday. Other leading overseas universities, including the University of British Columbia, University of California and South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, are also involved.
Rio Tinto will spend US$150 million (A$240 million) on the Centre for Future Materials over the next decade, but it is unclear how much of this has been earmarked for the Australian node. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
The centre will run research programs, known as Grand Challenges, that incorporate multidisciplinary teams and First Nations cultural knowledge to develop resource technologies that are sustainable and respectful, according to the mining giant.
The first ‘Grand Challenge’ will be on copper, with researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) node to be drawn from science and humanities backgrounds, as well as from its First Nations portfolio.
Among the researchers benefiting from the centre is plant scientist and BioTech innovator Professor Caitlin Byrt. Professor Byrt is working on using plant membranes to extract useful minerals directly from wastewater produced by the mining sector.
Speaking at the ANU launch event, Rio Tinto chief innovation officer Dan Walker stressed that the energy transition “must urgently deliver far more… copper, aluminium, lithium, other battery minerals, and high-grade iron ore for green steel”.
“Accelerating the transition to net zero is deeply complex. Many solutions and technologies needed for the energy transition do not yet exist. And no one player alone can solve this challenge,” Mr Walker said.
Mr Walker said the centre builds on his company’s 15-year relationship with the national university, noting that “breakthroughs happen where academia, the public sector and private sector companies” intersect.
“Businesses not only bring investment, but also play a role in identifying, evaluating and supporting science and technology to establish what has commercial potential,” he said.
Rio Tinto is also funding a $14.4 million startup accelerator program in Western Australia, as announced last year. The initiative forms part of the Founders Factory Nature & Biodiversity Tech Accelerator.
Mr Walker also flagged that “governments and public sector companies can support innovation by establishing the frameworks and policies – including climate and environmental policy” that stimulate and guide science and technology towards beneficial outcomes.
Federal resources minister Madeleine King said in a statement that Rio Tinto’s investment will “ultimately help boost supplies of critical minerals and strategic materials through top levels of research and development”.
ANU vice-president (First Nations) Professor Peter Yu said the sense of urgency around this work isn’t just about climate change or large volume of resources needed to replace fossil fuels, “it is equally rooted in fostering Indigenous rights and creating a more equitable society for all”.
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