Critical Minerals, Metals, and Materials for the Energy Transition
Dedicated to the sustainable and efficient recovery of critical minerals from both primary and secondary resources
Led by Professor Jacques Eksteen, our team of 29 academics deploy their research expertise across the areas of extraction and processing of various commodities such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, vanadium, PGMs, rare earth elements, graphite and precious metals.
We aim to develop scalable, economically viable solutions for recovering critical minerals from complex ores and industrial wastes.
Our focus areas
- Spent Batteries recycling
- Cathode precursor production pilot plant
- Hydrometallurgical processing for nickel and cobalt ores, concentrates, tailings, and wastes
- Green processing of mixed chemistry “Blass Mass” derived from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries
- Production of battery-grade manganese chemicals and energy materials
- Recovery of rare earth elements from various primary and secondary sources
- Upgrading of iron ore for DRI production using products from seawater RO brines
Collaborations and partnerships
We’re proud to collaborate with industry partners and academic institutions that actively support and contribute to our research. Helping us push the boundaries of innovation, their continued involvement allows us to create meaningful impact and advance research outcomes beyond the lab. View all collaborators and partners
Partner with us
By partnering with Curtin, you’ll gain access to a network of experts and specialised facilities that can help your business become more efficient, sustainable and profitable. There are also opportunities for investment, licensing, mentoring and employment.
Reach out to Curtin’s Research Partnerships Team using the form below
Our Team
Jacques Eksteen
Jacques is a highly accredited Professor with over 30 years experience spanning academia and senior management roles in the Critical Mineral industries.
Jane Beh
Jane brings over 14 years experience in high-pressure operations for chemical processing to her role as Senior Research Fellow/Facilities and Research Manager for C3MET.
Lina Hockaday
As Senior Engineer and post-graduate research fellow, Lina has over 18 years of pyrometallurgical research experience in the ferrous and non-ferrous industry.
Carlos Perea Solano
Currently completing his PhD in Mining Engineering, Carlos is the Senior Research Officer in the Cathode Precursor Production Plant with the C3MET research group.
Chaoran He
With 10 years of experience in mineral processing and hydrometallurgy, Chaoran provides technical support to the C3MET research group.
Liangwei Zou
Liangwei has successfully completed a large number of experiments and learned that experimental data is crucial for scientific research and corporate projects.
Elsayed Oraby
Elsayed has 20 years experience in 
extractive metallurgy, spanning both industry and academia. His research focuses on the optimisation of cyanide alternative lixiviant for gold leaching.
Nirmala Ilankoon
Nirmala has extensive experience in critical mineral and metal processing technologies. She is C3MET’s Postdoctoral Research Associate.
Richard Diaz Alorro
Richard has over 15 years of experience in Metallurgical Engineering, and Resources and Geo-Environmental Engineering.
Tony Tang
Tony has over 25 years experience in the full life cycle of mineral processing, extraction and refinement of complex chemical products.
Bradley J Schwehr
Bradley applies his chemistry expertise to mineral processing and hydrometallurgy, specialising in critical metals.
Zixian Deng
Zixian specialises in mineral processing and hydrometallurgy, with a focus on lithium flotation and gold, copper, nickel, and cobalt extraction using advanced methods.
Najwa Ismadi
Najwa is pursing her Master’s degree in the fields of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering.
Prof Markus Reuter
Markus is currently the Chief Expert for the SMS Group. He has a wealth of knowledge and variety of experience that greatly aids C3MET research group.
Prof Anna Kaksonen
With an interdisciplinary background in environmental engineering, science, policy and biotechnology, Anna strives to improve the sustainability across industries.
Prof John Clout
John is an international expert in mineral processing, specialising in the relationship between iron ore properties and downstream performance.
Prof Keiko Sasaki
Keiko is a Professor emeritus at Kyushu University, she has wealth of knowledge in biohydrometallurgy and environmental materials.
Dr Rian Bezuidenhout
Rian has over 25 years experience in the mining, minerals, metals sector and particularly enjoys development process activities.
Dr Tarek Mohammad
With over a decade of experience, Tarek brings his expertise in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering to the C3MET research group.
Caroline Rubina Acuna
Caroline volunteers at CSIRO assisting on research across hydrometallurgy, biotechnology, gold leaching and mine waste-water treatment.
Marc Henderson
Marc is pursuing his PhD in developing green hydrometallurgical technologies for recycling “Black Mass” from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.
Quang Thinh Tran
Quang is currently working on the downstream processing of rare earth elements from abundant clay minerals in Australia.
Paul Delaney
Paul is completing his PhD on innovative strategies for sustainable management of mine-influenced waters and acid mine drainage treatment.
Jandré Nel
Jandré’s Master’s project explores sulphide precipitation as a recovery option for nickel and cobalt (Ni-Co) from a glycine leachate.
John Pulgarin
John is researching the extraction of nickel and cobalt from low-grade laterite ores, aiming to produce battery-grade precursor materials.
Rachel Taylor
Rachel’s Master’s project focuses on optimising the electrochemistry of a hydrometallurgical process to produce battery-grade nickel and cobalt from low-grade ores and tailings.
Deepak Kumar
Deepak is pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering on fluid dynamic modeling of precursor reactive precipitation process in stirred vessels.
Anil Kumar Tripathy
Anil is working towards a PhD in the valorisation of effluents from the hydrometallurgical upgrade of iron ore.
Mifta Ulul Azmi
Mifta is a Master’s student who is part of the HDR research program. Her project focuses on lithium extraction from hard rock lithium minerals.Â
Maria Joriza Bondoc
Maria is deeply immersed in her doctoral studies, conducting research on the utilisation of waste carbon for battery development.
Latest research news
Researcher Connect: Associate Professor Elissa Burton
Meet Associate Professor Elissa Burton – Co-Lead of the Dementia and Ageing Domain within the Curtin enAble Institute and a…
Talking screens: A new era of inclusive TV
The next time you’re watching an episode of your favourite show, close your eyes for a moment and just listen.…
Professor Mingming Cheng
Meet Mingming Cheng – dad of two, social media researcher, and a pretty decent recreational swimmer (if he does say…
Making moves for WA children
While you’re never too old to learn, the brain’s ability to adapt and rewire itself is at its highest during…
Contact us
Have a question or want to learn more? Get in touch with us.