John McGagh, the Global Head of Innovation at Rio Tinto, has led the development of important research and development centres in universities that are addressing key technical issues for the global mining industry. The work in these industry-university partnerships encompasses the development and implementation of automation of surface mines, the advanced recovery of minerals through rapid mineral sorting, the reduction of energy required for crushing and grinding processes, and technologies for massive underground block-cave mines. Many important breakthroughs have been made bringing considerable benefits to the mining industry.