The Institute for Mineral & Energy Resources is the point of contact at the University of Adelaide for strategic research interests related to mineral and energy resources. It was founded in 2009 and launched h Australian Minister for Mineral Resource Development, Paul Holloway on 5 October 2010. The institute attracted over $18.5 million in research funding and corporate sponsorship in its first year. The IMER facilitates collaborative research between the higher education sector and industry and can take the shape of project collaboration to meet a company's specific needs, consultancy utilising academic researchers and PhD students, organisational collaboration to leverage government funding and long-term partnerships offering mutual benefits.
Major projects
In 2012, the institute was awarded over 1.5million as part of the Australian Research Council's Industrial Transformation Program. Funds will be spent over six years during the establishment of a research hub for advancing copper-uranium production. BHP Billiton partnered with IMER on the project and is providing $2.5 million in cash plus additional in-kind contributions.
The University of Adelaide also houses three Cooperative Research Centres which interact with IMER, its staff and its research projects. The CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies focuses on carbon capture and storage technology and the Energy Pipelines CRC focuses technology and processes for the maintenance and extension of existing natural gas pipelines and future pipeline needs. The Deep Exploration Technologies CRC focuses on developing cheaper, safer and more effective methods for drilling, analysis and targeting of deep mineral deposits. The latter CRC has been funded in excess of AUD$145 million through a combination of Federal government grants and corporate sponsorship, making it the "world’s best-supported independent research initiative in mineral exploration."
Objectives
As of 2014 the objectives of IMER are to:
Advance science and technology to enhance prospecting, discovery and extraction of mineral and energy resources, including petroleum and geothermal resources
Advance science and technology to lower costs and enhance cleaner energy generation, storage, transmission and utilisation of energy
Increase energy efficiency and reduce the impact of industrial processes, especially in mining and mineral processing
Maximise social and economic benefits of mineral and energy resource developments
Advance the prevention, assessment and remediation of environmental impacts of mineral and energy resource developments
Advisory Board
The IMER Advisory Board contains members from the university, State government and private sectors. As of October 2014, board members are:
