Perfect partners: These explorers are teaming up with university researchers to fast-track their projects
Collaborations with research institutions create innovative tech and minerals processing methods
Belararox, Everest, Impact Minerals among explorers and developers tapping university knowledge to make discoveries and advance projects
More and more miners and explorers are partnering with universities to find innovative solutions and new ways of extracting and processing valuable minerals.
Working relationships with tertiary education institutions offer unique access to specialists with extensive research experience in their field – allowing resources companies to tap into valuable insights and breakthrough technologies in geology, engineering, metallurgy and more.
Often the collaborations can lead to validating technology, or developing and commercialising new solutions to address industry challenges.
But it's also a two-way street. University students get exposure to and practical experience with industry – making them more employable in the commercial world – and mining companies can make fresh hires that help close skills gaps in their business.
Belararox unites Australia and Argentina
A prime example is explorer Belararox (ASX:BRX), which last month facilitated two memoranda of understanding between Australia's Curtin University and the National University of Cuyo, and the Government of Mendoza, Argentina.
BRX holds the highly prospective Toro-Malambo-Tambo (TMT) project in Argentina's San Juan Province.
TMT sits in an unexplored area between the prolific El Indio and Maricunga metallogenic belts and is just a few kilometres south of the Filo Del Sol deposit that was bought by BHP and Lundin Mining for US$3bn last year.
Filo Del Sol, which sits on Argentina's border with Chile, was recently confirmed as the largest greenfield copper discovery in the last 30 years, hosting 7.2 billion tonnes of ore at 0.40% copper, 0.23g/t gold, and 4g/t silver.
The collaboration plan between Australia and Argentina is to establish framework for cooperation over initial five-year period to foster long-term academic, technical and institutional collaboration – including reciprocal academic exchange programs and joint research projects in mining, engineering, and sustainability.
The company lent its assistance to making the MoUs possible following a request from Mendoza Governor Alfredo Cornejo in November 2024.
'These MoUs represent more than an academic exchange – they are a long-term investment in knowledge, people and regional prosperity,' managing director Arvind Misra said at the time.
Curtin University School of Mines head Professor Mark Buntine reaffirmed Curtin's commitment to global academic collaboration and to supporting education and sustainable mining practices across international borders.
'This partnership represents a unique opportunity to strengthen research, education and professional capacity in both regions,' he said.
'We look forward to building strong, lasting relationships that benefit our students, institutions and the broader mining community in Argentina and Australia.'
Everest and ECU extract rubidium
Everest Metals Corporation (ASX:EMC) is another example, with the company working closely with WA's Edith Cowan University on Direct Rubidium Extraction tech from the Mt Edon project.
The project contains 3.6Mt at 0.22% rubidium oxide and 0.07% lithium oxide, including more than 7900t of rubidium oxide.
And within that is a higher grade subset of 1.3Mt at 0.33% rubidium and 0.07% lithium, hosting nearly 56% of the total contained rubidium tonnes.
Earlier this month, ECU's Mineral Research and Recovery Center (MRRC), completed an engineering scoping study which validated the company's proprietary tech, demonstrating up to 97% rubidium recovery.
The tech has been around for years in water treatment, and in recent years lithium brine players have chased the promise of the more environmentally friendly extraction method.
It works by pumping brine into a tank where ion exchange beads latch onto the lithium. The remaining water is then recycled (sans lithium) back into the aquifer.
Originally the plan was to follow the route for lithium production only at the company's Mt Edon project in WA – however the researchers soon noted that the ion exchange process could be applied to a range of minerals, like rubidium.
Pending additional studies, it indicates potential commercial and technical viability based on a proposed processing capacity of 750-1000 tonnes per annum of rubidium chloride.
A provisional patent has now been lodged to secure the innovation, positioning EMC as a leader in rubidium extraction, with its Mt Edon project now a step closer to a pilot-plant by 2026.
The company also has a deal with Australia's national science agency CSIRO to conduct advanced geochemical and mineralogical studies at the project.
Nimy and Curtin advance gallium research
Curtin Uni also has a collaboration with explorer Nimy Resources (ASX:NIM) for its Mons project in WA which the company believes has the goods to become a 'world class' gallium resource.
Gallium is a vital material for advanced technology, renewable energy, and defence applications, essential to modern computer chips.
Covering an area of 3km by 1.5km, the company has posted an exploration target of 9.6-14.3Mt at 39ppm to 78ppm gallium at Mons.
Mineralogical assessments by the CSIRO show the mineralisation is likely contained within chlorotised schist, a style of deposit from which gallium has been extracted from one mine in China.
Drilling so far at Block 3 has shown grades run far higher than they do in bauxite deposits, the primary source of gallium, which is a by-product of alumina refining.
The chloritised schist at Block 3 could run between 400-800ppm Ga, according to the CSIRO, presenting the opportunity to upgrade feed from Block 3 in a future production scenario with ore sorting. Metallurgical testing with Curtin University kicked off last month.
Nimy is targeting a maiden resource in the next few months at Block 3 and has a collaboration agreement with US-based M2i Global aimed at assuring a supply of gallium to the US Department of Defense.
Impact and ECU producing high purity alumina
Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) is also collaborating with ECU's MRRC, scoring a $2.87m grant last year as part of the Federal Government's Cooperative Research Centres Projects program, to fund the commercialisation of its innovative process to produce high purity alumina (HPA) from the Lake Hope deposit in WA.
At the time, MD Dr Mike Jones said the federal funding underscored the national importance of IPT's work as well as enhancing the company's 'capability to implement world-leading technologies that set new standards in sustainability and efficiency in the mineral sector'.
HPA is on the list of critical minerals for Australia, Europe, and North America, a key component to improving the thermal reliability of lithium-ion batteries.
Just this week IPT released the pre-feasibility study and a reserve estimate for the project of 1.7 Mt at 26% Al2O3 for 450,000 tonnes of contained Al2O3.
Very strong economic metrics include NPV of A$1.165 billion (with no by-product revenue), capex of A$259 million, and opex of US$5860 per tonne excluding by-product credit.
'With the PFS now complete, our next steps are clear: we will advance the detailed engineering required to bring Lake Hope into production, which will revolve around our exciting federal government co-funded membrane research project now underway in conjunction with Edith Cowan University and CPC Engineering,' MD Dr Mike Jones said.
'We believe very significant improvements to our flow sheet will emerge from that work.
'We will also progress approvals and initiate offtake discussions.
'At the same time, we will help fund and rapidly develop the HiPurA modular production pathway to establish near-term capacity and position Impact as a differentiated, vertically integrated supplier of high-purity alumina to the global market.'
MTM processing tech with Texas Uni
MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM) is another example, with its proprietary Flash Joule Heating (FJH) processing technology being commercialised from research conducted by Rice University in Texas.
In a 2021 article in the academic journal Nature, Rice University researchers revealed their gambit to recover precious metals rhodium, palladium, silver and gold from e-waste.
Led by chemistry professor James Tour, they showed at lab scale that superheating to over 3000 Kelvins for around a second could temporarily separate precious metals from ewaste, extracting it at recoveries of over 80% of rhodium, palladium and silver and over 60% for gold.
Having spent a decade at Metso, the world's largest technology supplier to the mineral processing and metal refining industries, MTM CEO Michael Walshe first recommended when he was consulting to the company that the technology be tested on spodumene concentrate.
The tech is now exclusively licenced to MTM for all metal recovery and mineral processing applications and combines rapid electrical heating with targeted chemistry to unlock critical and precious metals from various feedstocks.
Last month, the company validated the production-scale reaction chamber for the process, establishing its readiness for commercial deployment and supporting increased throughput capacity from initial operations.
This puts MTM on track for commercial launch, with a materially de-risked modular scale-up strategy underway.
After announcing a supply deal with New York's Indium Corporation, the company's plan is to process gallium, germanium and indium within the United States from Indium's domestic waste stream. It also has potential suppliers lined up to extract valuable materials including gold from e-Waste and potentially green cement from red mud supplied by India's Vedanta.
The highly valuable suite of critical metals known as rare earths are also in its sights. This week, MTM announced an MoU with Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) to collaborate on downstream rare earths processing of mixed rare earth carbonate from Meteoric's Caldeira project in Brazil – proving the tech has applications across a range of minerals.
Lithium universe teams up with Canadian Uni
Earlier this year, Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) announced an MoU with La Corporation de l'École Polytechnique de Montréal (Polytechnique Montréal) to advance lithium processing technologies and strengthen Canadian supply chain for critical battery materials.
LU7 is focused on developing its planned Bécancour lithium refinery in Quebec, which is projected to produce 18,270tpa of green battery-grade lithium carbonate.
This is aimed at closing the lithium conversion gap in North America, which has millions of tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent resources but a distinct lack of chemical conversion capacity.
One of Canada's leading engineering schools, Polytechnique Montréal is known for its research and innovation in applied sciences and technology.
The partnership is aimed at enhancing education, research, and innovation in areas of mutual interest, with a primary focus on building Canadian expertise in the lithium battery sector.
'It is a privilege to partner with this prestigious university as we ignite innovation and cultivate a thriving lithium battery industry in Canada,' LU7 chairman Iggy Tan said back in Feb.
'Together, we are committed to educational excellence and sustainable industry growth, shaping a future where Canadian expertise leads the global stage.'
Firebird scores Chinese battery building collaboration
Firebird Metals (ASX:FRB) has a strategic alliance with the Central South University (CSU) of Hunan, China, who are undertaking lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode material testwork to produce LMFP button batteries.
The company holds the Oakover project in WA, which has a resource estimate of 176.7 Mt at 9.9% Mn, with 105.8 Mt at 10.1% Mn in an indicated category.
CSU has a strong reputation for developing world leading battery materials processes and is home to global experts in the Li-ion battery supply chain, with alumni including the founders of BYD and Rongbay Technology.
FRB is confident the collaboration has potential to position the company as a global leader in the evolving Li-ion battery market – and importantly as a non-Chinese owned company in the space.
They're on the tail of some significant cost-saving measures, eliminating the typical packaging and crystallisation steps in LMFP cathode production. This equates to a ~32% or US$167/t saving in projected manganese sulphate operating cost, with an additional reduced grinding at pCAM level expected generate further total savings.
'We expect our process to translate into substantial cost advantages in sulphate production by bypassing the manganese sulphate crystallisation process, which is the largest component of our operating cost,' FRB MD Peter Allen said in March.
'This streamlined approach not only reduces costs but also results in a superior quality LMFP product, strengthening our position as a cost-effective, high-quality leader in the market.'
Results from the testwork program will be used to undertake a scoping study on LMFP production. Once completed, Firebird will assess the results and opportunity to expand the current pilot plant to produce approximately one metric tonne per day of LMFP.
Mandrake and Utah Uni researchers team up
Mandrake Resources (ASX:MAN) is another company collaborating with a university in the US, namely the University of Utah and Idaho National Laboratories (INL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The collaborators scored a US$1M grant from the US Department of Energy (DoE) last year.
The grant funds are for the parties to characterise and estimate reserves of lithium and other critical minerals at the company's Utah lithium project – which has an inferred resource estimate of 3.3Mt Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) – and the greater Paradox Basin.
It's a massive federal vote of confidence. Plus, the partnership gives Mandrake access to the foremost US scientists and sophisticated US-funded laboratories.
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