An exploration of innovation in the Australian minerals industry : an innovation systems approach

Abstract

Comparatively little attention has been given to the role of innovation in Australia's minerals industry. Historical accounts of Australian development acknowledge the major economic and social advances derived from exploitation of mineral resources. However, a capacity for innovation is not seen as a factor in this success. Indeed, Australia's continued exploitation of its mineral endowment is typically seen as a handicap to broader economic diversification, particularly through the creation of knowledge-based industries and Australian engagement in the knowledge economy. This exploratory case study of innovation in Australia's minerals industry is based upon an innovation systems theoretical framework, and uses the innovation systems approach as a heuristic to guide the collection and analysis of empirical information. Its research design organises this exploration around three levels of analysis or analytical lenses, each with a distinct focus upon minerals innovation. In each level of analysis, empirically derived evidence is presented in case study subunits of minerals innovation that provide the base of evidence required for studies of innovation systems. The role of innovation in the minerals industry is explored in terms of its systemic nature, namely, a minerals innovation system (MinIS) .

The first level of analysis, an historical view of innovation in the minerals industry, maps the origins, characteristics and performance of a minerals innovation system. World-leading capabilities in radical processing innovations existed in the Australian minerals industry at the end of the nineteenth century. An early MinIS evolved during this period but lacked key public sector components characteristic of successful innovation systems. Access to international sources of knowledge and expertise, particularly in the USA, supported Australian advances in processing innovation and professionalisation of the industry. Systemic limitations in the public sector of the early MinIS restricted further growth and development of the minerals industry, and resource-led industrialisation. By the 1980s the MinIS was domestically complete, and a continuity of innovative capacity existed throughout the industry.

The second level of analysis examines more precisely how innovation takes place in the Australian minerals industry. Distinct characteristics and trends within the MinIS were identified for four of the key the minerals industry activities, including exploration, extraction, processing and environmental management. Case study subunits demonstrate that the MinIS holds considerable capacity for technological innovation, and features long­ term collaboration, international technology transfer and commercialisation of radical process innovation. A general trend across minerals firms recently is to improve productivity and safety through the incorporation of critical enabling technologies. The resulting conditions of demand for high-tech services and products has created a new innovative knowledge-based industry, the Mining Technology Services Sector.