About This Course

What is left after mining activity ceases? Transforming mining economies to enable communities and other stakeholders to build a successful post mine future is a growing challenge. Regulatory frameworks are being tightened and financial instruments mobilized to secure funds to address the risks of abandonment. Greater awareness of political and social risks from unclosed mines is influencing investor markets. The Foundations of Mine Closure and Sustainable Transitions explores the complexities surrounding mine closure and post-mining land utilization and establishes a foundation for enhancing the capabilities of all stakeholders involved in the process.

The Foundations of Mine Closure and Sustainable Transitions was developed by The University of Queensland and Curtin University. The course was funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies (CRC TiME) as part of its education and training portfolio. CRC TiME is the world’s only research organisation dedicated to bringing together diverse stakeholders to help reimagine and transform mine closure and transitions for the benefit of all Australians. It is part of the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program, which supports collaboration between industry, researchers and communities.

Course Staff

Dr Elaine Wightman

Elaine Wightman specialises in process mineralogy and seeks to understand the contribution from the physical characteristics of particles to their behaviour during processing. The use of automated tools for mineral characterisation has been core to many of Elaine’s research activities at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre. Elaine is also involved in teaching to a broad spectrum of learners and has experience in developing a range of course materials for both face-to-face and online delivery.

Dr George Barakos

Dr Barakos has significant experience not only in the academia but also in the mining industry, having worked as a consulting engineer in mining operations in Greece for several years. To keep pace with the evolution in the mining industry and its transition to the digital era, his recent research interest is also focusing on the automation and digitalisation of mining operations, as well as the digitilisation of the technical, economic and environmental evaluation of mining projects; how to introduce the IoT in mining operations, digitilisation of the mining project evaluation process and commodity market analyses using big data.