The Minerals Down Under Flagship is developing new processing technologies, products and blends that maximise the value-in-use of Australia’s carbon steel raw materials – iron ore, manganese ore and coking coal – therefore maximising their value and attractiveness to international customers.Automated analysis of minerals in iron ores and sinters – An optical image analysis system called ‘Recognition’ has been developed for automated identification of minerals and textures in iron ore and sinter samples. The system recognises minerals and ore textures based on their colour and reflectance, hardness, porosity and mineral associations, thereby reducing the subjectivity associated with manual mineral and texture classification.

Phosphorus removal via heat treatment and leaching – A key application of a new CSIRO patent is the reduction of the phosphorus content of high-phosphorus iron ores to acceptable levels via low temperature heat treatment and subsequent caustic leaching. Techno-economic studies based on the laboratory scale results suggest that the process may be economically feasible. RMDSTEM’s impact assessment shows the potential unlocked value is about A$90 billion (risk adjusted).

Iron ore database – An iron ore deposit database has been created to provide an up to date, easy to understand, interoperable database with a focus on factors such as phosphorus levels and tonnage. The database is a useful tool to develop a better understanding of deposit characteristics and to evaluate the true potential wealth of untapped iron ore resources. Results to date indicate there are about 8,000 Mt of high-phosphorus iron ore in Western Australia.

Beneficiation of Wonganin Sandstone – Based on CSIRO testwork that demonstrated that the Wonganin Sandstone formation on Irvine Island can be upgraded to more than 65% Fe by a combination of magnetic separation and reverse flotation, Pluton Resources has announced that this formation constitutes an additional resource and “to this end work is now underway to better define geological and grade variations within the Wonganin Sandstone”.

Financial impact – CSIRO’s technical marketing program has provided knowledge on how to increase and optimise the use of new Australian ore types, such as Marra Mamba and Yandi ores, in iron ore sinter plants around the world. RMDSTEM’s impact assessment shows that the delivered in-situ value for Marra Mamba ore over the three year life of the Flagship (60 Mt/y) is about A$22 billion (risk adjusted) with a potential in-situ value for additional new ore types of A$500 billion (risk adjusted) to 2030. Claiming 5% as the Flagship’s contribution to the introduction of new ore types into the market, the benefits generated by Minerals Down Under are A$1.1 billion over the last three years and a potential A$25 billion to 2030.