The Australian-headquartered miner's head of technology and innovation Andrew Logan called becoming a sponsor of CEEC a "natural fit" as Newcrest believes sustainability, technology and innovation, and operating performance are key business transformation areas.

Logan said the collaboration should enable knowledge sharing that can help improve  existing circuits, upskill Newcrest staff and deliver on the company's commitments towards more profitable, energy efficient mining.

Newcrest head of metallurgy John O'Callaghan noted that understanding and balancing the energy equation for its current and future operations is vital to the company's future.

"Benchmarking using CEEC's Energy Curves is very important to us from both a management and operational perspective. It's critical to know where our operations sit compared with each other and with our competitors, especially given the energy intensive nature of comminution."

The not-for-profit CEEC is funded entirely by mineral industry sponsorships. Other sponsor members include Anglo American; Ausenco; CRC ORE; Eriez; FLSmidth; Gekko; Glencore Technology; Hatch; Lundin Mining; Magotteaux; ME Elecmetal; Molycop; Newmont Goldcorp; Orica; Oz Minerals; Petra Data Science; Teck Resources; Toms Institute; University of Adelaide; Weir Minerals; and Wheaton Precious Metals.