Assessing the Benefits of Sustainable Processing Research in the Minerals Industry
There is a growing demand to evaluate the sustainability benefits of innovative technologies for the minerals industry. Applying traditional cost benefit analysis to ascertain the ‘value’ of these technologies excludes the increasing need to assess other critical factors related to environmental and community benefits and long term economic benefits. Such factors are vital in determining the feasibility of a new project using new innovative technology, and the role this technology can play in enhancing the sustainability of new or expanding operations.
Much of the work of the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP) has environmental, community and wider economic benefits, over and above direct financial benefits. If these research outcomes were widey implemented, they will contribute significantly to sustainable development in the mineral and related industries. This paper presents the results of applying a developed assessment methodology to quantify the sustainability benefits of innovative CSRP research outcomes.
A review of public domain sustainability frameworks and assessment methodologies was used as a basis to develop a sustainability assessment methodology specifically for minerals processing projects. The methodology has a two-stage approach of first characterising a project’s key sustainability components followed by the application of suitable tools to evaluate and where possible quantify the benefits. Results of applying the methodology to key CSRP research projects in the areas of comminution, geopolymers and biomass are presented. Using these results, the paper then postulates the potential sustainable development benefits from CSRP research outcomes at various levels of adoption throughout the Australian minerals industry.