#17 - Mohan Yellishetty: What to do with a hole in the ground - re-mining for critical minerals, rehabilitation and repurposing

The Grand Challengers Podcast

Mohan Yellishetty from Resources Engineering at Monash University, Australia sheds light on the importance of minerals extraction and how we can undertake this sustainably. From fascination with Australia-India relations around cricket to growing up in the countryside in India, we discuss the life cycle of mines and the potential of 're-mining', rehabilitation and repurposing after their closure as a way to combat climate change and support the global economy.
Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check out more of their tunes over at Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-planet)
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
1:12 Guest Introduction and the world of mining
4:37 AI (not artificial intelligence) and Cricket
9:00 Why engineering and not cricket stardom?
12:25 Life in the rice paddies
16:25 Why tulips led to Australia
19:26 Life cycle assessment involves cradle to cradle
21:48 The importance of minerals
24:20 Electric vs. internal combustion engines
26:22 Open vs. Closed Loop Recycling
30:05 How far has Life Cycle Assessment progressed?
33:18 Steps in conducting a mining operation
39:33 Identifying economic ‘fairways’ for mining
44:05 Combining industries for producing artificial topsoil
49:13 Mine rehabilitation and the issue of tailings
52:47 Interest in critical minerals
57:26 Repurposing options for abandoned mines
1:04:50 The cities of today are the mines of tomorrow
1:06:23 Impacting policy and governments
1:09:59 Is the bad reputation of mining changing?
1:11:15 Q&A Start
1:11:36 What inspires you?
1:12:22 If you had a magic wand?
1:13:40 Key event, person, book
1:16:06 Biggest challenge in career to date
1:19:01 Time management
1:20:36 Advice for young researchers
1:22:08 Where can people reach you?
1:22:35 Final Message
1:24:07 Outro

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