CSIRO and Chile’s Ministry of Mining have signed an agreement to improve education, safety and technology development in the mining and minerals sector.

 

CSIRO Chief Executive, Dr Megan Clark signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at an event hosted by Governor General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce at Government House  in honour of Chilean President, His Excellency Mr Sebastian Piñera.

 

The MoU was one of three signed between Australia and Chile during the President’s two day visit to Australia.

 

Dr Clark said CSIRO has collaborated with Chile in around ten projects per year for the last decade.

 

Both parties are focused on fostering innovation and technology development and investing in vocational training and post graduate opportunities.

 

“We aim to improve the competitiveness of both our mining and minerals sectors through cooperation in education, health, safety and technological research and development,” Dr Clark said.

 

CSIRO is currently working closely with Chile on minerals research in a major new collaborative initiative – the CSIRO Chile International Centre of Excellence in Mining and Mineral Processing. The centre is working with industry and leading Chilean Universities to develop cutting-edge technologies to reduce the environmental impact of mining and increase its productivity.

 

More information about the  CSIRO Chile International Centre of Excellence is here.