Fully funded scholarships• Living Stipend: AUD $37,000 per year (tax-free) for up to 3.5 year.• Tuition Fees: Fully covered for all students.• Research Funding: Generous project operating budget for equipment, consumables, analytical work, conference travel, and (where relevant) travel to major national research facilities such as the Australian Synchrotron and/or the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.• Location & Commencement: Murdoch University (Perth, Western Australia). Commencing as soon as practicable.
Project overviewThis ARC-funded research program, undertaken by Murdoch University in partnership with BHP, focuses on an integrated research program spanning the copper value chain — from the geology and mineralogy of copper ore and concentrate, through selective processing and impurity management, to flowsheet-level techno-economic and environmental assessment. It brings together economic geology, mineral characterisation, extractive chemistry, copper and valuable by-product recovery, impurity management, and techno-economic and life cycle assessment.
Three PhD students, a postdoctoral fellow and Honours students will work on complementary parts of this program, alongside scientists at Murdoch University and BHP in Perth, Western Australia.
Why this problem mattersCopper is central to global electrification, and demand is rising. At the same time, many cleaner, higher-grade deposits are being depleted, increasing the importance of processing more complex ores and concentrates. Many copper concentrates are increasingly challenging to process because they contain deleterious elements, and ore variability — differences in mineralogy, texture and alteration — is often only partially understood by the time a concentrate reaches downstream processing. Understanding variability at its source, and using it to design cleaner, more selective and more robust processing strategies that also make economic and environmental sense at scale, is an urgent industrial problem. This research project is motivated by real-world challenges associated with large-scale copper operations and future copper growth opportunities.
The three PhD projectsThe three PhD projects will run in parallel, each with its own research objectives, methods and deliverables. The students will work within a shared copper research program, and exchange samples, data and insights where beneficial, but the successful completion of each project will not depend on the progress of another.
PhD Project 1 — Copper ore mineralogy and economic geologyThis project investigates the geological controls, ore types, alteration, mineralogy, textures and geochemistry of copper ores using representative samples and contextual information provided by BHP. You will examine how copper and associated valuable and deleterious elements are distributed among different minerals, and how that distribution varies across samples. The results will identify the mineralogical and geochemical controls on ore quality and metal deportment, providing a characterisation basis for geometallurgical interpretation.
Open question: How do variations in ore geology, mineralogy, texture and element deportment control ore and concentrate quality and likely processing behaviour?
Required backgrounds: economic geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, geometallurgy, extractive metallurgy, mineral exploration/earth sciences, or related areas.
Principal supervisor: Professor Artur Deditius
PhD Project 2 — Copper concentrates:



recovering metals and managing impuritiesThis project focuses on copper concentrates, aiming to improve metal recovery (including recovery of selected valuable by-products) and impurity removal while safely managing deleterious elements. You will study the extractive metallurgy, separation chemistry and impurity-management strategies relevant to copper concentrate processing, investigating reaction mechanisms, kinetics and process conditions that govern how valuable and deleterious elements are released, separated and immobilised. The project combines laboratory-scale extractive metallurgy experimentation with advanced mineralogical and microanalytical characterisation (including X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and solution analysis) to link process performance back to its mineralogical origin.
Open question: How can mineralogical information be translated into selective chemistry that improves metal recovery while safely managing deleterious elements?
Required backgrounds: chemistry; chemical, metallurgical or process engineering; materials science/engineering; mineralogy; geochemistry; or related areas.
Principal supervisor: Professor Fang Xia
PhD Project 3 — Integrated copper flowsheet: techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessmentThis project will develop and assess candidate copper concentrate processing flowsheets using techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessment. You will construct mass and energy balances, estimate capital and operating costs, quantify life-cycle emissions, compare energy scenarios, evaluate how realistic variation in ore and concentrate characteristics affects process economics, environmental performance and risk, and support decision-making under uncertainty. The models will be established from the outset using literature, industry and independently developed datasets, and may incorporate experimental data from the broader project and BHP as it becomes available.
Open question: Under what technical, economic and environmental conditions could the proposed copper-processing options remain viable across realistic ore and concentrate variability?
Required backgrounds: chemical, process or environmental engineering; industrial ecology; energy systems; sustainability science. Experience with process simulation, LCA software, or Python/MATLAB/R is a strong advantage.
Principal supervisor: Dr Xiangpeng Gao
The team and research environmentYou will join a cohort of three PhD students, a postdoctoral research fellow and Honours students working on complementary parts of the same industry-relevant program. The supervisory team spans economic geology, trace-element mineralogy and geochemistry, extractive metallurgy, materials science, and process modelling.
Murdoch’s flagship Rigaku SmartLab diffractometer, capable of in situ PXRD and SAXS, is complemented by SEM-EDS, ICP-MS, ICP-OES, TGA/DSC, Raman spectroscopy, and a full suite of reactors and furnaces. Through formal agreements, the group has access to the world-class analytical facilities at the Centre for Microscopy,



Characterisation and Analysis at UWA and the John de Laeter Centre at Curtin, including FESEM-EDS, TEM, EPMA, Nano-SIMS, micro-Raman, and other advanced facilities. The group also has a solid track record of securing beamtime at state-of-the-art facilities, including the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne and the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering in Sydney.
BHP scientists will contribute technical guidance, industry context and regular project interaction throughout the program. Students will gain experience in communicating with an industry partner and seeing how research outcomes inform industrial decision-making.
Perth is Australia’s mining capital and one of the strongest places in the world to build a career in copper, mineral processing, extractive metallurgy and sustainable resources research.
Who we are looking forWe care about how you think and whether you can develop into an independent researcher. Applicants should have:• A suitable academic background for the relevant project, as listed above.• A First Class Honours degree, a Master’s degree with a substantial research component, or an equivalent qualification in a relevant discipline.• Evidence of strong research potential, such as a high-quality thesis, publication, substantial research project, laboratory or modelling experience, or a project you can discuss with real depth.• Strong written and oral communication skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.• English proficiency meeting HDR admission requirements. https://www.murdoch.edu.au/study/how-to-apply/entry-requirements/english-proficiency-tests
How to applyPlease send the following documents:• CV, including degrees, institutions, grade average and scale used, thesis/project title and mark if applicable, any publications, conference presentations, and research projects.• Academic transcripts for undergraduate and postgraduate study. Unofficial PDFs are acceptable at this stage.• English test report, such as IELTS, TOEFL or PTE, if already available.• Cover letter, maximum 400 words, explaining which project you are applying for, why you are interested in this project, and your thoughts on the open question listed for that project. Please include how you would begin tackling the question, such as the first experiment, analysis, or model you would use, what result you would look for, and what you would do next. We do not expect a fully developed research proposal; we want to understand how you think, what relevant experience you bring, and how you approach an open-ended research problem.
Please submit a single application, sent to the principal supervisor of your first-choice project. For Project 1, Professor Artur Deditius ([email protected]); for Project 2, Professor Fang Xia ([email protected]); for Project 3, Dr Xiangpeng Gao ([email protected]). You may nominate a second-choice project in your cover letter.
Email subject line: PhD Application – Project [1 / 2 / 3] – Your Full Name
Please email your application by 31 August 2026. Late applications will be considered if the positions have not been filled. If shortlisted in the first stage, applicants will be contacted to provide additional supporting documents and to arrange a time for the interview. Successful candidates are expected to commence as soon as practicable, subject to admission, visa and other administrative requirements, where applicable.

📌 Three Fully Funded Industry-Linked PhD Scholarships in Copper: From Ore to Flowsheet (Fremantle)
🏢 Murdoch University
📍 Fremantle