Seventeen university students got their hands dirty over the 2003-2004 summer vacation doing some hydrometallurgy research for the first time, and got paid for the experience too.

The students were employed under the Parker Centre’s inaugural summer jobs scheme. Dr Dan Churach, the Centre’s Education Program Manager, says the program was set up to give undergraduate students some insights into the minerals processing industry and into research aspects of the industry.

"The idea was not for these students to wash test tubes, the idea was for them to do some meaningful work,” says Dr Churach. “We hoped that some of them might then be enticed to do more research in hydrometallurgy as part of their studies and/or enter the industry when they’ve finished their degree.”

That hope has already been fulfilled: two of the 17 students are now doing Honours in the Parker Centre; another two are undertaking their final year Chemical Engineering research project with their summer supervisor and one is continuing her vacation work as the research project requirement of an Applied Chemistry degree.

"One of the new Honours students wouldn’t have considered Honours in hydrometallurgy without the summer jobs program”, Dr Churach says. “Another of the students, currently finishing a chemistry major, has indicated that she will apply for Honours in the Centre next year. We may even end up attracting more of the students into hydrometallurgy as six were only 2nd year students.”

There were over 40 applications for the 17 positions. The successful applicants, a mix of 2nd and 3rd year students, were chosen by interview. Each received approximately $5000 for eight to ten weeks full-time work. Seven students worked at CSIRO Minerals, two worked at Curtin University and eight students spent their time at Murdoch University. All the students were supervised by Parker Centre researchers.

The eight students who worked with Parker Centre researchers at Murdoch University and Dr Dan Churach (far right), the Centre's Education Program Manager.

Venny Tjandrawan, who investigated gold extraction using polysulfides, is one of the new Honours students. “I found that hydrometallurgical research is more fun and challenging than just pure chemistry,” she says.

Dr Gamini Senanayake, Venny’s supervisor over the summer, says the polysulfide project is in the preliminary stages but Venny’s results led to some new ideas about the prospects of gold sulfidation. “The summer job also succeeded in stimulating her interest in extractive metallurgy.”

Andrew Jones is the other new Honours student. “I applied for the vacation job because I was in my last year studying Applied Chemistry and wanted to get into research in the mining industry,” he says. “So, this was a very good introduction to it and possibly a way to get my foot in the door.”

Andrew researched combined grinding and leaching of ores. “It was a continuous learning process,” he says.

Dr Nick Welham, who supervised Andrew, says he strongly recommends the job scheme continues in the future as it is an excellent way to expose students from other fields to the opportunities offered by hydrometallurgy.

John-Peter Kelmar, a chemical engineering student, worked as part of the Centre’s Solid-Liquid Handling project team. “He was an enthusiastic worker, fitted in well with the team and did some useful work,” says supervisor Dr Phil Fawell. “I believe he gained a good appreciation of the many factors that influence thickener operation and benefited from exposure to the chemistry of the process.”

"I found the job to be much more enjoyable than sitting in a lecture theatre, and I learnt much more,” says John-Peter. “It also gave me a whole new appreciation for the minerals industry.”

Chemistry student Selvia Ratnawati says that after her work experience in the Centre, she now considers the minerals industry as an interesting area for her future career. Her project involved running a solvent extraction pilot plant for removing zinc impurity from a cobalt sulfate solution.

According to Selvia’s supervisor, Dr Aleks Nikoloski, her work increased Murdoch University’s capability for conducting specific test work and produced sufficient purified cobalt solution for another project on cobalt electrowinning to be able to start.

"However, with the key ingredient in any project being the researcher, the greatest benefit from this exercise comes from the training of the student,” says Dr Nikoloski. “This training significantly increased her competency in conducting independent research work and makes her available for similar future projects.”

"The summer jobs program is a strategy which well serves both the immediate requirements of the research institutions and the long-term human resources needs of those and the industry,” he says.

The student job scheme will be run again next summer.

Dr Churach says there will be some changes based on lessons learnt the first time around. “Our Murdoch researchers organised a seminar session where their students presented talks on their work over the summer,” he says. “The quality of these presentations was extremely high,” says Dr Welham.

Following on from its success, says Dr Churach, we will hold a joint session next time in which all the students at Murdoch, Curtin and CSIRO will give short presentations, concluding with a social function.

"We are also considering involving some of the Parker Centre’s industrial partners in the program,” Dr Churach says.