Western Australia’s Curtin University says a new quantum computing research collaboration with KPMG and mining major Fortescue could help solve some of mining’s complex optimisation challenges while building sovereign capability in quantum computing for Australia’s resources sector
An Australian public-funded Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer project, Quantum Computing for Mining Optimisation, will test whether quantum algorithms can solve large-scale mine planning problems faster than conventional computing approaches. It is said to build on earlier research led by Curtin and KPMG.
The A$0.5 million project led by Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science research fellow Shakib Daryanoosh will develop and test quantum algorithms for mining applications in simulation and on real quantum hardware.
The centre says “enormous optimisation models” used by miners to plan production and coordinate logistics from pit to port support high-value scheduling, supply chain and operational decisions. However, conventional computers can take days to deliver solutions. Faster and better insights could be worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars per operation.
The project would also give university researchers hands-on experience with industry and “access to quantum hardware that would otherwise be difficult to reach”.
The four-year-old Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer program has Curtin University partnering with the University of Queensland and James Cook University, and various industry backers, to help commercialise university research. It is said to be “transforming the way industry, universities and researchers work together, enabling the optimisation of resource operations by developing exciting new technologies and equipping our innovators with the skills and knowledge to transform the sector”.
