High-tech imaging projects help manufacturers unearth new wealth  

Two projects backed by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre have commercialised technology based on cosmic rays and hyperspectral imaging to make mining safer and more productive.

In a statement on Tuesday, the not-for-profit organisation highlighted projects by Swinburne University spinout mDetect and ASX-listed EQ resources, both of which received backing from AMGC’s Commercialisation Fund.

mDetect uses astrophysics research into muons – a type of subatomic particle that falls to earth after cosmic rays hit the earth’s atmosphere – which pass deeply though harmlessly into objects and have strong potential in various imaging applications.

mDetect has created telescopic devices (pictured) and software in a system used to map tailings dams and better understand their integrity and therefore safe operation. This was trialled by Oz Minerals (now part of BHP) as part of a project awarded $248,191 in AMGC funding in 2021.

“Thanks to AMGC, we’ve gone from idea to impact, developing our product for commercial sales, securing key agreements, and developing our design for scaling manufacturing – it has by far been our best government-funded program experience. With high-profile partnerships secured, mDetect is set to revolutionise global industries and enhance mining safety,” said the company’s Co-Founder, Dr Jerome Donovan.

AMGC Managing Director, Dr Jens Goennemann added: “An Australian manufacturer harnesses the power of space to protect lives on Earth. That’s Australian manufacturing at its best – globally relevant, collaborative, and highly complex.”

EQ Resources was awarded $600,000 in funding, announced early in 2022. through the Commercialisation Fund supporting a project using ”high-tech hyperspectral imaging sensors on a front-end loader, AI-assisted decision-making, and X-ray sorting technology”. 

The project is in service of extracting tungsten from a mine waste stockpile and low-grade deposits at its Mount Carbine project in Far North Queensland, and involved Mt Carbine Quarrying Operations, Plotlogic, Tomra, Cronimet, and the University of Queensland.

“EQ Resources’ hyperspectral imaging technology demonstrates that there is still significant life in historical mines where waste piles are mountains of opportunity – in this case 130-year-old piles of tungsten containing waste,” said Kevin MacNeill, CEO of EQ Resources.

According to AMGC, mDetect’s project is predicted to lead to $7.7 million in revenues in the fifth year after completion, and EQ Resources’s work has already seen an extra 20 jobs created, with 30 employees upskilled, and helped deliver an additional $3.6 million in revenues.

Picture: supplied