Austmine and Vedanta have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that outlines a framework for future cooperation between the two companies in line with the Australia-India Mining Innovation Program supported by the Australia-India Council and the Global Mining Challenge – India program.

The MoU was executed by Dr Robert Trzebski, Austmine Director, International Business, and Vineet Jaiswal, Deputy CEO of Vedanta Limited’s Centre of Excellence.

“We are very pleased to see this MoU in place as it paves the way for great synergy between our two entities, combining Austmine’s METS network in Australia and Vedanta’s drive for technology excellence and innovation,” Trzebski said. “Our collaboration will allow Australian METS solutions to enter the Indian mining industry and address challenges around world-class standards of governance, safety, sustainability and social responsibility.”

Jaiswal added: “We are delighted to see this alliance take place as Austmine is a great platform to help crowdsource innovation and connect to the best of brains across the world for opportunities available across Vedanta group. The METS capabilities of Austmine’s membership network will be a complement to Vedanta’s quest for transformation across environment, communities, governance, workforce and other business functions.”

The objectives of the MoU are to solve to open-innovation challenges, gain access to Australian transformative and sustainable technologies, drive disruptive potential that will create a large-scale impact on global ESG issues,and stimulate bilateral trade and investment between Australia and India, Austmine says.

The first two challenges, ‘Underground Mining Network Connectivity’ and ‘Reduction of Net Carbon Consumption in Potlines’, have already been launched. In the former category, Vedanta is seeking technology-based solutions that help reduce the risks, impacts, and occurrence of communication gaps in its underground mining operation at the Rampura Agucha Mine; with the latter challenge seeking technology-based solutions that can help reduce the net carbon consumption in its potline at the Vedanta Limited Jharsuguda smelter.