Members of the media may directly contact the following experts on this topic:
Muralee Murugesu (English and French)
Full Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, and Associate Vice President of Innovation, Partnership and Entrepreneurship.
Professor Muralee Murugesu's research interests include Rare Earth Elements (lanthanides and actinides) inorganic and organometallic chemistry, magnetic and optical materials , inorganic nano-materials and quantum properties.
He can speak to the processes surrounding critical mineral processing and application towards cutting edge technologies in the defence sector.
Geoff McCarney (English only)
Associate Professor, School of International Development & Global Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences; Director of the Institute of the Environment ; Executive Director of the Smart Prosperity Institute.
Professor McCarney’s research focuses on areas of environmental, natural resource and development economics.
He can discuss the intermingling of mining and defence from the view of competing demands for critical minerals plus technology and low carbon energy. He can explore what counts as defence applications/spending across these fields with considerations for critical mineral processing, from analyzing domestic capacity to broader environment and economical considerations.
Brian O'Driscoll (English only)
Full Professor and Newmont Chair in Economic Geology, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences
Professor O’Driscoll is a petrologist and ore geologist with expertise in linking novel geochemical tools to field-based and petrographic observations. His research interests include precious metal mineralization processes.