Research

Maria Holuszko with graduate student in the Coal Mineral Processing Laboratory.

Faculty and students in the Norman B Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering (NBK) conduct research in advanced mining, extraction and mineral processing systems, recycling electronic waste, mine energy systems, Multiphysics characterization of geo-materials and processes, among several other areas.

Research Groups

  • Microwave assisted fragmentation

    Advanced Mine Energy Systems

    Application of microwave-assisted fragmentation in excavation and comminution of hard rocks/ores. Enhancement of mineral resources employment efficiency is one of the main targets identified by the mining sector and United Nation’s sustainable development roadmaps.

  • Illustration of the Vancouver skyline upside down

    The Urban Mining Innovation Centre

    The Urban Mining Innovation Centre (UMIC) research center is an initiative developed at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at UBC to provide scientific, business, and social approaches to the recovery of valuable materials/metals from urban waste streams.

Future Innovations & Current Research

UBC is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people (Musqueam; which means 'People of the River Grass') and Syilx Okanagan Nation. The land has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam and Syilx peoples, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next.

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