About the Project
THE PROJECT
This project aims to understand the mechanism and kinetics of pressure leaching of gold telluride minerals and to engineer processing parameters for high efficient gold extraction from gold tellurides. Gold tellurides are refractory gold ores and the extraction of gold from gold tellurides is becoming increasingly important as a result of the world’s continued high demand of gold and the exhaustion of free-milling gold ores. Australia is the world’s second largest gold producer and hosts a large portion of gold tellurides ore deposits. The current approach for processing gold tellurides involves a pre-treatment roasting step for burning off Te from the minerals at high temperatures. Roasting is energy intensive and releases toxic gases. In the recent years, it is reported that these minerals can be transformed to porous free-gold or gold-silver alloy under mild hydrothermal conditions, and can be a promising alternative approach for gold telluride pre-treatment to replace roasting. The development of such novel cost-effective and environmentally benign processes requires inputs from a clear understanding of the fundamental physical-chemical processes.
For carrying out this project, we will use standard laboratory techniques as well as advanced characterizing techniques including the state-of-the-art facilities at the Australian Synchrotron (e.g., in situ X-ray diffraction, or small angle X-ray scattering) and/or at Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (e.g., small angle neutron scattering, or neutron diffraction). During the candidature, you will have the chance of going to Melbourne and/or Sydney to do research as well.
Murdoch University is located at the beautiful coastal city, Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. Perth is the 4th largest city in Australia and has been one of the most livable cities in the world for many years (ranked 9th in 2015). It is a very nice place to study, to work, and to enjoy life. Murdoch University has been very strong in metallurgical engineering and has educated numerous metallurgists for Australia’s multi-billion-dollar mineral industry, and fresh graduates’ annual salary greater than $100,000 Australian dollars is not unusual. Once you complete this PhD project, you may either work in Australia’s mineral industry, or in the research organizations and universities.
ELIGIBILITY:
Minimum qualification: Master by research.
Excellent undergraduate academic performance (high GPA).
You should have a strong chemical background, such as metallurgy, chemical engineering, chemistry, materials science, mineralogy, geochemistry.
You should have some research experience and outputs (journal papers) and should be passionate about research.
Minimum English requirement: IELTS (Academic) 6.5 (no individual band less than 6.0), or TOEFL - Internet-based - Minimum score of 90 with no band less than 20.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
The scholarships waive tuition fee and provide a generous annual living allowance of ~$26-30k. The candidate can apply for several government and Murdoch University scholarships.
CONTACT:
Please send your CV (indicate IELTS or TOEFL score and publication list), undergraduate academic transcript, and publications (full paper) to Dr Fang Xia by email ([Email Address Removed]).
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