Critical minerals and circular economy research alliance

A new partnership between the Queensland Government and the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (UQ-SMI) is set to help strengthen Queensland's critical minerals industry.

The alliance will oversee an $5.5 million research program to drive identification, discovery and development of critical minerals.

Selected research projects will focus on creating a critical minerals circular economy for Queensland. This approach will look at how we can oversee all stages of the critical minerals cycle—from discovery and mining resources through to processing, recycling and manufacturing our own renewable technologies needed to decarbonise.

The research institute–government Alliance is a key action in the Queensland critical minerals strategy and will operate for the next 4 years.

Current projects

Exploring social considerations to develop a responsible critical minerals sector in Queensland

This project aims to advance Queensland Government’s thought leadership on the social, political and cultural aspects underlying a responsible mineral supply for the energy transition.

Lead Researcher: Dr Vigya Sharma, Senior Research Fellow, UQ-SMI-CSRM

Commencement Date: 1 November 2024

Completion Date: 31 May 2027

Defining Queensland’s secondary prospectivity Module 1 – Sub-project A – pyrite resources

This project seeks to address the emerging opportunities for defining the secondary prospectivity of Queensland’s waste. The project builds on outcomes of the past five years of UQ-SMI working with our department.

Lead Researcher: Associate Professor Anita Parbhakar-Fox, BRC-SMI-UQ

Commencement Date: 1 October 2024

Completion Date: 31 July 2026

Optimising future copper production in the Northwest Mineral Province – Stage 1 scoping

This project will define an optimised framework to guide project and infrastructure development, as well as sustainability, policy and incentives, relating to the efficient development of new copper projects in the Northwest Mineral Province.

Lead Researcher: Professor Mark Noppé, UQ-SMI-BRC

Commencement Date: 1 October 2024

Completion Date: 31 December 2025

Towards zero waste mining: The OreSand knowledge hub

This project will foster an innovation ecosystem on mine waste prevention by providing knowledge, technical advice, and decision support tools on OreSand. It will position Queensland at the centre of global thought leadership and action on the circular economy.

Lead Researcher: Dr Juliana Segura-Salazar, JKMRC-SMI-UQ

Commencement Date: 1 November 2024

Completion Date: 31 January 2027

Last updated: 08 August 2025
Last reviewed: 30 January 2025