Research Groups

We divide ourself into research groups focusing on:

• Mine Planning and Surveying
  • Utilisation of remote, satellite based, techniques for monitoring of mining subsidence
  • Development of shaft and ore-pass inspection system
  • Laser Stope Surveying System (L3S)
  • Wall Station surveying
  • New Underground Haulage Systems
  • Open Pit Load-Haul Operating Practices
  • Modelling and Optimisation of Mining Systems
• Mineral Economics
  • Analysing Mineral Markets
  • Minerals and Economic Development
  • Mineral Sector Competitiveness
  • Statistical Considerations of Progressive Value and Risk in Mineral Exploration
  • Recent Australian Junior Exploration Floats and their Implications for IPOs
• Mining Equipment
  • Optimising maintenance of mining equipment
  • Novel mining equipment
  • Non-destructive testing of wire ropes
• Mining Rock Mechanics
• Metallurgy
  • Hydrometallurgy
  • Mineral Processing
  • Non-ferrous Pyrometallurgy
  • Sustainable Hydrometallurgy
• Exploration Geophysics
  • Rock Property Characterisation
  • Modelling Elastic Properties of Fractured Reservoirs
  • Seismic Signatures of Patchy Saturation
  • Velocity-Stress Relationships (for time-lapse seismic)
  • Simulation of Rock Properties from Microstructure
  • Modelling of Properties of Rocks Saturated With Heavy Oil
  • Greenhouse Gas (CO2) Sensing
  • Physical Modelling of Reservoirs
  • Reservoir Imaging
  • Reversed Time Acoustics and Virtual Source Imaging
  • Effects of Shale/Sand Anisotropy on AVO-Based Reservoir Characterisation
  • Fracture Orientation from Anisotropy Measurements
  • Tomography in Heterogeneous Media
  • Sea-bed Electromagnetics
  • Ore-Body Delineation
  • Seismoelectric Methods
  • Future Water Storage Options
  • Geophysical Instrumentation
• Geology
• Spatial Sciences
  • Western Australian Centre for Geodesy
  • Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing

All groups collaborate between themselves and also undertake common research projects.

Research Collaborators

WASM mining research groups work in partnership with world class collaborators such as ALCOA Australia Ltd, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines, and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Japan. Other industry collaborators include The Chamber of Minerals and Energy, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Spatial Science Institute (SSI), Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Geological Society of Australia, Western Australian Department of Industry and Resources (DOIR), Institution of Engineers Australia (IEAust) and
Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Integrated Hydrometallurgy Solutions