Following on from the success of the inaugural extractive metallurgy course for WA science teachers, the course was run again on 7 July 2003. It was even bigger and better the second time around, having taken on board suggestions from teachers who attended the first course.

The rationale behind the course remained the same: the steady fall in the number of school and university students studying chemistry is ringing alarm bells in universities and the many and varied industries which employ chemistry graduates. The Parker Centre and Murdoch University hope this course will help turn the tide.

A chemistry degree can open numerous career doors, in areas ranging from environmental chemistry to art restoration. However, since the Parker Centre undertakes research on the extraction of metals from minerals using solutions (hydrometallurgy), its recruitment drive for chemistry focuses on minerals processing.

"We aim to reach students through their teachers by running teacher training courses in the chemistry and physics of extractive metallurgy," says Dr Dan Churach, the Parker Centre's Education Program Manager.

Dr Churach says they had a full laboratory for the second extractive metallurgy course, with 18 teachers attending.

"The emphasis was on hands-on laboratory experiments," says Dr Churach. Metallurgy lecturers from Murdoch University and Parker Centre PhD students helped the teachers broaden their understanding of metallurgy.

"In addition, we communicated to teachers, and hopefully through them to students, that there are excellent career opportunities in metallurgy that are going begging because there is no-one to fill them," says Dr Churach.

The attendees also took away resources for the classroom, including the course handouts and lab workbooks on a CD-ROM and a spatula they had plated with gold. In addition, they were provided with a variety of maps, background papers, lesson plans, student worksheets and other CD-ROMs containing resource materials.

See video of the thermite reaction (2.3 MB)

"Thank you very much for the wonderful and most productive seminar on extractive metallurgy," says Agnelo D'Souza from Woodvale Senior High School. "The day was informative and the hands-on work was stimulating. The lunch, drinks and nibbles capped off an excellent day for all teachers concerned."

The three laboratory sessions of the course covered the main methods involved in metal extraction from ore:
1. Concentration - the experiments included froth flotation, gravity concentration and magnetic separation.

2. Hydrometallurgy - the experiments included leaching (dissolving) copper from copper ore, recovery of copper from solution and gold plating.

3. Pyrometallurgy - the experiments included tin smelting, pouring a tin ingot and properties of slags.

Some of the experiments can be repeated in the classroom while the rest allowed the teachers to experience first-hand metallurgical processes that are part of the chemistry curriculum.

The Parker Centre teamed up with the Mineral Science/Extractive Metallurgy program at Murdoch University to present this course. The course was free for the teachers with the Centre and Murdoch footing the bill for the day.

The Parker Centre/Murdoch team plan to run the course again next year.

Excursions for the teachers to CSIRO Minerals' laboratories at Waterford and to industrial sites such as mine sites and processing plants are also planned.


Other photos of the 2nd course

Photos of the 1st course

*The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA, the Australian Minerals Council, CSIRO Minerals, Iluka, Tiwest, University of Tasmania Geophysics and WMC Resources kindly donated resource material for the teachers.