9. Metallurgical Processing Innovations: Intellectual Property Perspectives and Management

Transformational innovations in metallurgical processing are essential to surmount the challenges facing today’s mining industry. Metallurgical processing innovations arise from within the mining industry and from supporting businesses and organizations. Innovations can be new products, ideas, and methods that add value and are typically protected as intellectual property. Mining companies encounter substantial barriers in developing and implementing innovations. Successful innovation must be driven from a company’s top leadership and linked to a business strategy and future corporate vision. New approaches must be implemented to capture the benefits of R&D through strategic relationships and mechanisms that recognize and embrace “open innovation.” New approaches to test innovations must be implemented to limit disruption to ongoing production activities and manage risk. The future of metallurgical processing is likely to be vastly different from today’s operations given the emerging engineering innovations in advanced materials, electronics, robotics, synthetic biology, energy, and information technology.