STATEMENT BY THE HON. R.E.X. CONNOR. M.P. t li ' \

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MINISTER FOR MINERALS AND ENERGY

At th e  p r e s e n ta tio n  of th e  I n d u s t r i a l  D esign C o u n c il of .

A u s tr a li a  awards l a s t  n ig h t i n  C anberra, th e  1973 P rin c e  P h i l i p

P riz e  f o r  A u s tr a lia n  D esign was p re se n te d  to  P h ilip s  S c i e n t i f i c

and I n d u s t r i a l  Equipment.

The Award was f o r  th e  d e sig n  o f a r a d io is o to p e  o n -stre a m

a n a ly s is  system  f o r  u se i n  th e  m in e ra l p ro c e s s in g  in d u s tr y .

I  was d e lig h te d  to  le a r n  of t h i s  Award because th e  system

i s  l a r g e ly  th e  r e s u l t  o f tw elv e y e a rs r e s e a r c h  and d ev e lo p m e n t.by

th e  A u s tr a lia n  Atomic Energy Commission. The b a s ic  a n a ly s in g   te c h n iq u e s used i n  th e  system  w ere co nceived and developed by

Commission s c i e n t i s t s  a t th e  Lucas H eig h ts R esearch  E s ta b lis h m e n t.

The f i r s t  te c h n iq u e  developed was s u c c e s s f u lly  p la n t-

te s te d  i n  1964 by th e  Commission w orking in  c lo s e  c o -o p e ra tio n  w ith

N orth B roken H i l l  L td. T his le d  i n  1968 to  a perm anent i n s t a l l a t i o n

a t  th e  m ining com pany's Broken H i l l  o p e r a tio n . T his was th e  f i r s t

r a d io is o to p e  o n -stream  a n a ly s is  i n s t a l l a t i o n  i n  th e  w orld i n  a

m in e ra l p ro c e s s in g  p la n t. .

F u r th e r  developm ent by th e Commission of a number of  r a d io is o to p e  a n a l y t i c a l  te c h n iq u e s  extended th e  system  to  co v er a

wide ran g e o f elem ents o f com m ercial im p o rtan ce to  th e  A u s tr a lia n

m ining in d u s tr y . These in c lu d e d  a n a l y t i c a l  methods f o r  d e te rm in in g

th e  c o n c e n tr a tio n  of l e a d , z in c , t i n ,  co p p e r, n ic k e l, i r o n  and

bism uth in  m in e ra l p ro c e s s in g  p la n t s tre a m s .

O ther im p o rta n t system  developm ents were made d u rin g  t h i s   p erio d  by m e t a l l u r g i s t s  from The Zinc C o rp o ra tio n  L t d . , th e  most

im p o rta n t b ein g  th e  concept and developm ent o f a n a ly s is  probes th a t

could be immersed d i r e c t l y  in to  th e  s l u r r y  strea m .

The A u s tr a lia n  M in eral I n d u s tr y  R esearch  A s s o c ia tio n  L td .  s tr o n g ly  su p p o rte d  a programme of in - p la n t t r i a l s  i n  th e  p ro c e s s in g

p la n ts  of s e v e r a l le a d in g  A u s tr a lia n  m ining com panies.

These p la n t t r i a l s  were c a r r ie d  out by s t a f f  from th e

Commission and th e  A u s tr a lia n  M in eral Development L a b o r a to r ie s ,  A d ela id e. Recent p la n t t r i a l s  and i n s t a l l a t i o n s  have been c a r r ie d

out by AJMDEL on a c o n s u ltin g  b a s is .

2

Â· - Â· ' *

P h ilip s  showed in c r e a s in g  i n t e r e s t  d u rin g  th e s e  p la n t

t r i a l s ,  and' n e g o tia tio n s  began i n  1969 betw een th e  Commission,

AMIRA, AMDEL and P h ilip s . ' An Agreement was sig n e d  in  1971 g iv in g   P h ilip s  I n d u s t r i e s  l t d .  e x c lu s iv e  use of th e  te c h n ic a l in fo rm a tio n

and p a te n ts  owned by th e  o th e r  members of th e  C onsortium  in

exchange f o r  r o y a l t i e s .

On t h i s  b a s is  P h i l i p s  d esigned th e  r a d io is o to p e  a n a ly s is

system  w hich has now been honoured by th e  p r e s e n ta tio n  of th e

P rin c e  P h i l i p  Award f o r  A u s tr a lia n  D esign.

The a n a ly s in g  pro b es and a s s o c ia te d  e l e c t r o n i c s  i n  t h i s

h ig h ly  s e n s i t i v e  system  a re  now b ein g  m anufactured i n  A u s tr a li a

and m arketed w orld-w ide by th e  A u s tr a lia n  b ran ch  of th e  i n t e r Â­

n a tio n a l P h i l i p s  o r g a n is a tio n .

The o v e r a ll scheme has been e n t i r e l y  an A u s tr a lia n

accom plishm ent, ra n g in g  as i t  does th ro u g h  r e s e a r c h , d ev e lo p m e n t,  d e s ig n , m an u factu re and m a rk e tin g . I t  sp eak s h ig h ly  of A u s tr a lia n

e x p e r tis e  i n  th e use o f n u c le a r energy f o r  i n d u s t r i a l  p u rp o se s.

I t  i s  b e lie v e d  t h a t  th e  w id e-sp read  use of t h i s  a n a ly s is

system  could in c r e a s e  th e  v alu e of m in e ra l r e c o v e r ie s  from

p ro c e s sin g  p la n t o p e ra tio n s  by m illio n s  o f d o l l a r s  a y e a r.

CANBERRA.

17th O cto b er, 1973.

