By Michael Preuss, Monash University; University of Manchester and Maggie Zhai, RMIT University There has been much excitement since Australia signed a landmark agreement with the United States last month to expand cooperation on critical minerals and rare earth elements. These materials are essential for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and clean energy technologies. The deal…
Andrew Reeves to retire from Inghams as CEO and MD Inghams Group has announced that its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Andrew Reeves (pictured) will retire from the role in mid-2025, to be replaced by the CEO of its New Zealand business, Edward Alexander. The Chair of Inghams, Helen Nash, said: “Andrew has done…
An eco-friendly, high-performance organic battery is being developed by scientists at UNSW Sydney. A team of scientists at UNSW Chemistry have successfully developed an organic material that is able to store protons, and used it to create a rechargeable proton battery in the lab. By leveraging hydrogen ions – protons – instead of traditional lithium,…
Laser uranium enrichment company Silex Systems has taken a step closer to producing uranium fuels needed for small modular reactors (SMRs) at its facilities in the United States. The company’s 51 percent owned Global Laser Enrichment LLC (GLE) has acquired a 665-acre parcel of land for the company’s planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF), in…
ANSTO’s OPAL research reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney has recommenced operations following a months-long planned shutdown to carry out essential maintenance and upgrades. Central to these upgrades was the elaborate replacement of OPAL’s cold neutron source, located next to the reactor core. The three-metre-tall device slows down neutrons as they travel from the OPAL…
Noizend reports progress after one year’s operation Noise reduction company Noizend has developed a relationship with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to develop its Noizend Shields at its Centre for Audio, Acoustics and Vibration. Noizend develops noise-cancelling technologies to reduce the noise pollution at the source from construction facilities, live music venues and factories.…
Lithium ion battery materials group Lithium Australia and Mineral Resources (MinRes) will form a joint venture to commercialise the LieNA process to recover lithium from hard rock spodumene ores. The news comes after Lithium Australia completed the final stage of LieNA piloting activities at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) which commenced in…
BHP sets new copper smelting records BHP has set new records for smelted copper production at its South Australian copper mines centred on the Olympic Dam mine, concentrator and smelter. The company achieved record copper mined and concentrate smelted at Olympic Dam in FY24 production was up by 39 per cent to 322kt in the…
The federal government has appointed former NBN boss Michael Quigley as Chair of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Board for a four-year term. Quigley has worked across the public and private sectors, including with telecommunications company Alcatel and as the former NBN CEO. According to a statement he has significant Board Director…
Lithium Australia subsidiary Envirostream has signed a new three-year Mixed Metal Dust (MMD) off-take agreement to supply leading South Korean battery recycler SungEel HiTech. SungEel HiTech will purchase a minimum of 60 percent of Envirostream’s annual MMD production from its battery recycling facility in Melbourne. The facility utilises ANSTO/Lithium technology which recovers 95 per cent…