July 2013 – Rio Tinto Summer Internships 2013

Floating coal and exploring my home

30 July 2013

So, my time in Cape Town has begun for the next 8 weeks and I have already been here for a week – I really can’t believe it! Since finding out how I would be spending my summer (unfortunately not summer in the Southern Hemisphere), 6000 miles (ish) away from home, I didn’t quite believe I would eventually be living and working in what is regarded as one of the best cities in the world!

View from my bedroom window — Not a bad view from my bedroom window!

So you may be wondering how I managed to spend so much time in such an amazing place…. Well, I was lucky enough to be awarded the Rio Tinto scholarship, a new initiative created this year to form a partnership between Imperial College and Rio Tinto, one of the biggest mining companies in the world.

This means that I along with 11 others (3 of whom are here with me in Cape Town) have been sent off across the world to universities, mines and research centres to get an insight into mining related work that goes on.

I arrived in Cape Town just over a week ago and have done so much already. I started work at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Monday and was thrown straight into my task for the next 9 weeks; being part of a research group that looks into Acid Rock Drainage from mine waste. It sounds glamorous I know!

Without going into the depths of the science, basically acid forms when coal mine waste is dumped, which then pollutes water. Research is being undertaken to prevent this happening by treating the waste before it is dumped.

I will be looking at a process called Froth Flotation, something which is also researched at Imperial, to improve the process in which sulphur (the thing that helps form the acid) is removed from coal before it is dumped.

The UCT campus, below the mountains — The UCT campus below the mountains

This will involve lots of lab work, which is meant to be very messy (cue for sympathy) but hopefully will prove useful to the mining industry as a whole! So those are the basics of the work I will be doing over the next 8 weeks and I will keep you updated with my progress over time.

So, Cape Town. What have I done so far you may wonder? Surely I haven’t been slaving away doing some crazy thing to do with floating coal for all of this time?! And you would be right!

So far I have climbed to the top of Lion’s Head, which is a peak adjacent to Table Mountain above the city. At sunset of the Full Moon, the sun sets in the West and the Full Moon is meant to rise in the East. Unfortunately, it clouded over about 5 minutes before sunset – typical, but the 360 degree views across the entire city were incredible (see photo).

This weekend, I along with Emma and Alice (2 of the other Rio Tinto scholars here in Cape Town) have spent time exploring the city centre, avoiding the periods of torrential rain (ironically missing the semi-heatwave in the UK), visiting museums in the city and walking to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Overall, I have had an awesome first week in South Africa and I am feeling very excited for the next 8 weeks and what it will bring.

I will try to keep you updated with everything I am doing from research at the university, to day drips at weekends and a local ice hockey match tomorrow (random I know!)

Bye for now,

Harry

Microwaving rocks in the magical land of Oz

Sean Conner

19 July 2013

Crazy title. Hold onto your seats, all will be revealed.

3 weeks down already?! Cue blogging cliché no.1: time really does fly by when you’re having fun! But let’s rewind a little.

So you may be wondering how on earth we ended up down-undaah?

Along with 10 other lucky students, we were awarded The Rio Tinto Scholarship 2012. Such a privilege has allowed us to set off on summer internships to different corners of the world, to gain valuable insights into the mining industry.

So here we are at The Julius-Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, Brisbane, Australia (check out our pad here in Indooroopilly).

We are involved in a project known by the centre as “The Secret Squirrel” [insert dramatic music here]. This involves carrying out innovative, small-scale experiments on 1000s (literally 1000s), of ore samples straight from Kennecott Mine, Utah.

Our main aim is to optimise the process of separating valuable minerals from barren waste using Microwave technology. And that, for now, is all we are allowed to tell you.

Not only do we get to carry out research in an experimental mine (any sceptics out there see photo for proof), but also every Thursday we attend a post-grad lecture on the controversial field of “GeoMetallurgy”.

The main philosophy behind GeoMet is the integration of all disciplines involved in mining projects, from the geologists to the mining engineers and even the company directors. Given its name, GeoMet obviously focuses on the geological and metallurgical drivers behind ore body formation and how such knowledge can improve milling processes to maximise resource value.

We have been on a huge learning curve already. Perhaps very naively, we both thought that the mining industry simply involved extracting minerals, processing them and then getting the end product.

The Rotary Breakage Tester (check out our girly attire…)

Instead, mining utilises very intricate and ground-breaking technology to overcome obstacles presented by the enormous variability of ore-bodies. This variability is what causes each mining project, along with its processes, to be unique and THAT is what makes mining an exciting industry to be involved in.

Even though it has been all go, we wouldn’t miss the opportunity to soak up the Australian culture! Oz is absolutely fab. The people are so friendly and really do seem to love the British accent.

On the first weekend, we visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (20 minutes away from our house) where we actually got to cuddle koalas and kangaroos!!

We also took a wee tour around central Brisbane before heading to a local Aussie bar to watch the Lions vs Wallabies match (let’s just say they weren’t very welcoming that night). But the highlight of our trip so far has to be visiting Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort – an island just east of mainland Oz.

We went snorkeling (meaning, yes, we donned the mighty wet suit – evidence attached) along sunken shipwrecks, and we casually swam with some turtles! The evening ended with us hand-feeding dolphins as the sunset came down – what an unbelievable experience!

In the coming weeks we will no doubt update you on how our research is developing and on our travels to The Great Barrier Reef, Sydney and perhaps Tasmania – not to make you too jealous or anything!

See you soon!

Hayley and Izzy.

p.s. why the hell did no one tell us that Brisbane was so hilly!

Shout out to the third member of our team - Tommy Priddle!

Central Brisbane – also the day Lions beat the Wallabies!

Hello world!

Blogs Admin

9 July 2013

This blog has just been created. Come back soon to read more from Liam Bale, Harry Fisher, Isobel Mackay and Hayley Meek on their summer internships.