Overview
AMIRA International was incorporated in September 1959 as The Australian Mineral Industries Research Association Limited (A.M.I.R.A.). The founding fathers' unique vision to facilitate the development of collaborative research projects sponsored by members, is still an important driving purpose that continues today. To better reflect our global reach, AMIRA International Limited was adopted as the trading name in 1998. The business name was formerly changed to AMIRA International Limited in 2001.
A.M.I.R.A. was created as a private-sector, independent, not-for-profit industry association. The founding fathers decided that A.M.I.R.A. should be funded not through an industry levy, but on its ability to work with members and develop the research programmes designed to deliver the solutions for the group challenges. For its time, it represented a truly innovative business model in Australia, and indeed the world.
AMIRA International is now a global organisation promoting projects generated by the world's best researchers to our members worldwide and acknowledged as an international benchmark for collaborative research in the private sector. In recent years, AMIRA has embraced the principle of 'think global, act local 'to facilitate regional project development in countries where members operate.
A particularly important spin-off from AMIRA's activities is to assist in capacity building and nurturing research infrastructure in these countries.
Whilst holding true to the vision of our founding fathers, AMIRA has been adapting to changing circumstances. We have developed and administered close to 700 projects since inception, delivering many innovations in the form of widgets and software, new methodologies, standards and tools, improved understanding of physical processes, new exploration concepts, and geological data/databases. Approximately AU$580 million has been invested, in current dollar terms, by our members in these projects.
Although AMIRA International continues its important role of providing solutions to members' business challenges through collaboration, this does not preclude AMIRA International from being engaged by a member on a one-on-one basis to develop and manage research programmes on their behalf.
AMIRA is managed like any other public company, but as a not-for-profit member-based organisation we have a special relationship with our members. Our corporate goals therefore, revolve around delivering value to our various classes of members through:
- Delivering exceptional value to our members and partners by:
- Employing best practice standards, systems and processes that increase productivity.
- Applying processes for end-to-end ideation and project delivery that are optimised and streamlined to minimise costs, and add value to customers.
- Ensuring a sustainable global business with annual surplus so as to strengthen the balance sheet to ensure that we can deliver enhanced services and products to our members.
- Embracing a culture of operational excellence by:
- Turning ideas into valuable outcomes that solve our members problems.
- Facilitating the development of scientific/ engineering solutions that address member needs and have high impact.
- Identifying new revenue generating services for members
- Developing a highly capable, diverse, passionate and flexible workforce, with upporting skills and a member-centric culture.
Chair's Report
Dr Stephen Grocott
Chair
During the year metal prices enjoyed a recovery, at least towards the latter half. Although exploration expenditure showed some signs of recovery, expenditure on greenfields exploration continued to be depressed. Despite the cautious optimism, most Members were still focused on reducing costs and improving productivity. However, some were beginning to hire again, perhaps having realised that they may have cut too close to the bone. During the year there were persistent calls for greater collaboration in the industry, made all the more important given members' loss of their own technical capability.
During the downturn many Members have re-framed their technology plans to focus largely on the short-term. This has been through development of technologies requiring very little research and mostly development. This focus on the short-term has been at the expense of longer term research-intensive activities. It is not to say that the latter does not occur, it is just that many companies' time horizons have significantly shrunk because of the need to develop and deploy technologies that deliver a payback within three years. This means a focus on the higher Technology Readiness levels. This focus on the here and now has meant that the traditional longer term research projects are less in favour and there is pressure for projects to deliver implementable outcomes much earlier. AMIRA International has responded by designing projects with this in mind. In addition, the project portfolio included the development of new projects that focused on trialing or field testing pre-commercial technologies developed by various METS suppliers: P1171-Environmental Dust Removal, P1196 - Application of Coldblock Digestion for Gold and Base Metal Analysis, and P1185 - Superfine Crusher Technology are three examples that are designed to be short term focused projects for Members. These are expected to start in the new financial year.
Despite the difficult business conditions, support for research in fields, both old and new, may reflect the start of a resurgent interest in collaborative research. Particularly encouraging is the support shown by Members for the flagship programme P9Q - Optimisation of Mineral Processes by Modeling and Simulation which commenced in January 2017 with more than AU$3.1 million of support - boosted by significant Commonwealth contributions leveraged through CRC ORE II. This is no doubt the world's longest R&D programme focused on modeling and simulation of unit operations, having begun in 1962. However, the founding sponsors would no doubt both struggle to recognise P9Q and equally well be impressed to how it is delivering immediate value to sponsors.
The industry is somewhat fragmented along commodity and technology maturity lines. For example, the majors are leading the way in many areas of technology, includingare leading the way in many areas of technology, including automation. This has resulted in increasing collaboration between mining companies and the larger METS suppliers who are generally best placed to deliver on shorter time frames. As indicated above, AMIRA international is working with METS suppliers who have technologies of interest to our Members.
During the downturn, some Members substantially reduced their technical capability. This means that it is much more difficult to find champions in Member companies who have the time and capability to evaluate and promote AMIRA International projects in their organisation. However, despite the downside, this provides an opportunity for AMIRA International to offer its expertise in project development and management to Members on a one-on-one basis.
The changing nature of the industry brought about by both structural changes, as well as the changes that accompany cyclic downturns, has prompted AMIRA International to re-examine its business and marketing strategy. This has led to the development of strategies to address the key challenges.
| # | THE KEY CHALLENGES | STRATEGIES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ensure AMIRA has a clear identity and focus relevant to 21st century conditions. | Adjust AMIRA's mission and vision Enhance and communicate AMIRA's value proposition. Develop and implement a strategic marketing plan |
| 2 | Increase AMIRA's capacity to increase traditional collaborative project sponsorships, and to do so with careful attention to the current adverse operating condition within the minerals industry, including in the face of increasing direct and indirect competition. | Introduce new service stream: includes addressing non-technology based challenges: sustainability, safety, human capital development, innovation, and to assist members with the development and/or management of outsourced one-on-one proprietary projects.
Training AMIRA's staff on relationship management and marketing Hire additional professional staff to replace staff lost during the "down" period |
| 3 | Enhance member engagement, including reestablishing a strong contact base with C-suite executives, and increase members' satisfaction. | Appoint a Global Business Development Manager Identify well known executives who would be willing to act as champions of AMIRA and assist in making connections with senior management, to explain AMIRA's offering and to promote the organisation. Appoint specialist consultants on a contract basis to assist in developing and managing projects, including new services. A focus on Operational Excellence |
| 4 | Modernise AMIRA's governance structure. | Review AMIRA's Constitution which is now 11 years old |
Membership at the end of the financial year stood at 59. A total of 14 companies withdrew membership whilst five new membership applications were received.
Despite the industry downturn, the AMIRA International staff delivered just over AU$4.6 million of new projects. Nevertheless, the company posted a small deficit for the financial year. Management is focused on maintaining strong cost control whilst focusing on revenue generation.
During the year five Directors stepped down from the Board of AMIRA International. The Board and staff would like to thank Dr John Russell, Mr Richard Butcher, Mr July Ndlovu and Mr Colin Moorhead for their service to the organization, and would particularly like to thank Dr Aubrey Paverd for his seven year service as a Director, the last two and half as Chair. It was my pleasure to be chosen by the Board to take over as Chair in December of 2016.
In conclusion I would like to compliment the Managing Director, Joe Cucuzza, and his staff on what has been a very challenging year. Emerging from the commodities downturn and placing AMIRA International in its current robust financial position and with its project portfolio is an impressive achievement. I also wish to thank my fellow Directors for their support. It is an honour to work with a Board with such depth and breadth of experience in the resources sector.
MANAGING DIRECTOR's REPORT
MR. JOE CUCUZZA
MANAGING DIRECTOR
During this last financial year AMIRA International's staff worked hard to develop and secure support for a variety of projects. The changing expectation of members has resulted in a greater focus on projects that are at the middle to upper part of the technology readiness levels. These tend to be very focused projects designed to deliver implemental solutions as quickly as possible. A project in this category includes P9Q - Research Translation Project: Translating research into industry tools: Validated Multicomponent Mineral Processing Simulator.
As the title implies the project is focusing on consolidating much of the previous work carried out in the P9 series of projects with the aim of delivering tools that sponsors can implement in their operations now.
Although there was some evidence of a turn-around in industry's fortunes, investment in collaborative research was still depressed. This is not to say that support from our members has not been forthcoming. Existing projects have secured additional support whilst new projects began during the year. In the former category is P420F - Enhancing Gold Mining Economics: Improving Processing and Extending Reserves, which saw increased industry support to a level of $3.66M over three years. It is worth mentioning an interesting feature of this project: it includes a series of one-on-one activities with several sponsors who wish to undertake proprietary work. Only sponsors can commission this work with the researchers and only through AMIRA International. In addition to P9Q mentioned above, P1171A: Environmental Dust Removal Step 2, also commenced during the year. This is an example of a project that is focused on testing and trialing new technology which is considered to be pre-commercial. It includes little research and mostly technology development and testing.
During the year another very successful Biennial Exploration Manager's Conference was held, the 11th in the series. The first Conference was held back in May 1997, and has built a reputation as a unique invitation-only forum where executives, researchers, and geoscientists meet to discuss issues of common interest. Delegates from all over the world met at the RACV Healesville Country Club in Victoria. The Conference led to the identification of several project ideas which AMIRA International will be exploring.
The changing circumstances have led to a shift in strategy that will create more agile response to opportunities. This involves a number of initiatives including building internal capacity that will position AMIRA International to take advantage of opportunities as industry begins to recover in earnest. It includes a more rapid assessment of opportunities to ensure that the focus, and effort, is on those that are most likely to attract support; backed up with fit-for-purpose tools to be able to monitor costs of project development and management. It also includes expanding our services into areas that hitherto AMIRA International has not pursued; these include offering members the opportunity to engage AMIRA International to manage one-on-one projects that they have outsourced but have reduced internal capacity to manage, for example.
Despite a tight focus on cost control, the diminished number of projects supported meant that a deficit of $228.7K was posted for the year.
Management and staff bid farewell to Dr Aubrey Paverd, who served as Director and latterly as Chair. Also during the year we saw the departure of Dr Chris Ward, Program Director of the Mine to Metal Business Unit. A replacement is being sought. Ms Adele Seymon, Program Director of the Exploration to Mine and Sustainability Business Unit, was given the additional responsibility for Global Business Development.
Achievement Through Leadership And Collaboration
Our Vision
"Creating value through collaboration"
Our Mission
Our core purpose is to develop and manage collaborative projects that deliver new data, knowledge and technologies for the benefit of our members.
Our primary objectives are to deliver solutions that will assist members to improve profitability and return on investment in all stages of the minerals value chain i.e.:
- Improve the discovery rate of new resources, and convert these and existing sub-economic resources into valuable products in a sustainable way acceptable to society.
- Improve productivity and safety, and reduce the footprint of existing operations.
- Develop effective strategies that reduce closure liabilities for all stakeholders.
- Provide opportunities to train the next generation of industry leaders, operators and researchers.
- Enhance the standing of the mining industry amongst all stakeholders, locally and globally.