World leading mining exploration technology from Rio Tinto's Mine of the FutureTM program attracted a visit today from His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh as a prelude to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth.

At The University of Western Australian His Royal Highness inspected the state of the art VK1 airborne gravity gradiometer. VK1 is the most advanced mining exploration technology developed by Rio Tinto and aims to find 'needle in a haystack' orebodies.

Operating from an aeroplane, VK1 measures changes, or gradients, in the Earth's gravity field that allow detection of otherwise invisible, buried orebodies.

Some 30 years in the making, VK1 is now in initial flight trials with Rio Tinto. It is expected to undergo further modifications before a complex testing program starts next year.

The VK1 project is a joint endeavor between Rio Tinto's Exploration and Technology & Innovation teams and UWA. The three groups are pooling their knowledge of orebody geology and advanced physics, as well as their engineering expertise, to make the vision of VK1 concept originator and technical director Dr Frank van Kann a reality.

Mr Tom Albanese CEO of Rio Tinto said that "It is an honour for all of us involved that His Royal Highness has visited the VK1 project at UWA. As orebodies become harder to find, we hope that pioneering new technologies like VK1 will help us uncover the next generation of mineral resources. I would like to congratulate Frank and his team for bringing this technology to the point where we will soon be able to test its commercial application."