The Parker Centre is developing the hydrometallurgical knowledge and technology required to maximise the returns from Australia’s mineral resources derived using hydrometallurgical processes whilst reducing the environmental impacts of these processes.

The Centre's research spans two broad areas: Breakthrough Technologies and Process Fundamentals.
The research in both areas is focused on alumina, base metals (particularly cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc) and gold, which are Australia’s three major markets that utilise hydrometallurgical processes.

The research activities in the Breakthrough Technologies area are aimed at providing the science base for breakthrough technologies to overcome current roadblocks identified by the minerals industry, which if overcome could significantly change particular industry sectors. Examples of the targets of this breakthrough research are:

• Alumina: the development of innovative processing technologies for extracting alumina from bauxite ores containing high levels of silica would potentially convert vast untapped bauxite deposits into valuable assets.
  
  
• Copper: the development of a viable heap bioleaching process for treating low-grade chalcopyrite ores, a major copper resource, using microorganisms would have a significant impact on the copper industry.
  
  
• Nickel/Zinc: ferrihydrite is an iron oxide precipitate which causes problems in a range of hydrometallurgical processes and can also lead to iron overload diseases in humans. Understanding the biological processes for ferrihydrite deposition and dissolution could generate radical breakthroughs in controlling ferrihydrite precipitation in the zinc and nickel industries.

The Process Fundamentals research is addressing the minerals industry’s need to optimise the existing extraction processes used in hydrometallurgical plants by advancing the understanding of the fundamental science controlling these processes. Incremental improvements in current production technologies made through increasing the fundamental understanding of particular steps in hydrometallurgical processes can result in considerable financial benefits.

The Centre undertakes fundamental and applied research on behalf of the minerals industry, at laboratory and pilot scales as well as at operating sites. The scope of the research activities ranges from the atomic level to the plant scale, ie from nanometres to megalitres. The Centre has the capability to link microscopic understanding of the underlying chemistry with the macroscopic performance of operating plants.

It can be the research supplier for small to medium companies lacking their own laboratories. It is also a viable alternative to in-house research by the larger companies who are increasingly outsourcing their research work.

Collaborative research with mineral processing companies ensures that the Centre’s researchers are focused on industry’s needs.

Most of the collaborative research projects with industry are carried out on a one-to-one basis to address specific company issues, and can be short-term or long-term work.

However, the multi-client projects, often coordinated by AMIRA International, are usually the largest in terms of research teams and funding. AMIRA International is an industry association based in Australia which coordinates collaborative research for project sponsors in the global minerals industry. AMIRA projects are developed in conjunction with industry. The Parker Centre is currently a research provider in seven AMIRA projects, providing the opportunity for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) right through to large corporations to benefit from collaboration with the Centre.

The Centre has a growing international client base, and is active on-site at client locations within Australia and also in North America, the Caribbean, South America, Africa and Europe.

A considerable network of research linkages has also been developed. Cooperative links with specialist research groups in Australia and overseas widens the Centre’s capabilities. These links include memoranda of understanding for collaboration between the Parker Centre and organisations such as the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the University of Limerick in Ireland, the South Korean government minerals research agency KIGAM, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Technology transfer activities are a crucial component of the Centre's work, and are directed at bridging the gap between research outputs and industry application.

The Parker Centre's Safety Policy is aligned with the safety practices and culture of the minerals industry.