News

Article courtesy of Australian Mining.

The 2022 WA Mining Conference and Exhibition was the perfect setting for networking and connection.

Held at the Perth Convention & Exhibition from 11–12 October, the WA Mining Conference and Exhibition boasted record registration numbers that called for a floorplan expansion.

The sold-out exhibition featured more than 120 suppliers and 40 conference speakers, with thousands of attendees enjoying the conference’s topics across the two days.

Developed purely for the Western Australian market, WA Mining gave attendees a blueprint to address operational pain points while hearing from leading industry experts in the highly targeted conference.

Some of the exhibitors included SmartTech Australia, Acubis Technologies, Austdac and IBM, and all were prepared for a full two days of networking and discussions.

The expanded exhibition showcased the latest tech and digital solutions across the entire mining value chain and brought together experts, industry and academia to illustrate the technical and digital evolution transforming the mining industry in Western Australia, while showcasing the economic importance and the vital contribution the resource sector makes to state and federal economies.

This year’s topics covered a wide spectrum of mining topics, including technology thought-leadership and practical case studies, with an emphasis on innovation.

“The rate of innovation continues to accelerate, across decarbonisation, automation and data science,” conference chair Ric Gros said.

“We’re currently looking at the greatest transformation the mining sector will ever see, and it’s important that we lead and promote conversations on the transition to take the sector on the journey.

“WA Mining is an important milestone for the state’s resource sector, and it’s never been more important to share our knowledge for a successful future.

“We’re in an exciting place post-COVID, and while there are certainly difficult things to contemplate like digital risk and the rising importance of ESG, there’s also the bright potential of technology, data science and new research to illuminate the way forward.”

The transformative power of the mining sector was evident in many of the presentations through the conference, including the one from Gold Road Resources and Ultimate Energy Australia.

The two companies told the story of how their cooperation toward net-zero and decarbonisation targets resulted in a 93 per cent reduction in fuel costs at Gold Road Resources’ Yamarna site.

The site saw a decreased reliance on diesel generators through an innovative solar and battery energy hub.

The hub has not needed any maintenance in the last two years and has no permanent footprint.

Discussing the future of the mining industry, Minerals Research Institute conference speaker Geoffrey Batt said the mining of tomorrow would be vastly different from what people have known.

“The future of WA’s mining industry does not look like its past,” he said.

But the conference covered more than just decarbonisation, as speakers looked to knowledge-sharing in data-science-based maintenance, critical minerals, unlocking autonomy, and much needed skilled workers.

Additionally, cooperation and collaboration across the industry were firmly on the agenda. idoba chief executive officer Sarah Coleman was one of the speakers at the event, presenting on the innovation opportunities in the industry.

Coleman said idoba’s and the conference’s goals were very similar.

“The world is fast-changing and increasingly more turbulent,” she said.

“The problems and challenges we are facing have too many variables to consider and we’re finding ourselves, our systems and our traditional problem-solving approaches ineffective in dealing with the depth of these complexities.”

Outside of the conference, the technology-focused supplier exhibition had a strong buzz across the event’s two days.

Innovative exhibits featured virtual reality pods used in training and onboarding, 3D-printed parts used to model and demonstrate repairs, and robotic and drone technology.

Perth start-up Apex Engineering Technology Group was a first-time exhibitor, showcasing its innovative approach to refurbishing and recoating ground-engaging tools (GET) and wear parts using laser technology for increased resilience.

Apex Engineering Technology Group managing director Daniel Rhind said that as a promotional approach for the company, WA Mining provided incredible exposure.

“We had a complete robotic display at our stand, which attracted plenty of interest, and the quality of people we talked to has been outstanding,” he said.

Andrew Neaves, of standards stalwart SAI Global, agreed.

“The people we interacted with at WA Mining were decision-makers at the right level – and people were more than happy to engage and have a conversation.”

The mining pavilion allowed an opportunity for job-seekers to connect with recruitment teams from companies including Rio Tinto, Roy Hill and Northern Star.

Rio Tinto managing director Santi Pal said the supplier engagement at the exhibition was an important factor in strengthening relationships.

“We’re proud to lead the way in autonomous mining technology across the Pilbara,” he said. “Our relationships with suppliers only help to broaden our thinking and innovation perspective.

“The future is digital and autonomous mining is significant, and WA Mining helps to increase the visibility of that future.”

Northern Star recruitment coordinator Prue Orford found “WA Mining exceeded our expectations”.

“And we were impressed by the number and quality of the attendees,” she said. “We look forward to being back in 2023.”

Platinum partner Epiroc was encouraged by the industry, tech experts and site personnel, with national sales manager capital equipment Rod Hermann saying technology helps to move the needle in a number of areas.

“Epiroc continues to live our motto, ‘dare to think new’, in an industry with rapidly evolving technologies to bring about higher levels of safety, efficiencies and sustainability for our customers,” he said.

“Partnering with WA Mining is just one way that we can help bring technology to the forefront of operations.”

The conference is already booking out for 2023, with WA Mining saying the event is the premier spot for technical and digital innovation to meet operational and executional excellence for networking opportunities.

WA Mining encourages mining personnel, digital experts and community and industry representatives to attend in 2023.

Exhibition director Samantha Martin noted that the launch of the show, held for the first time in its expanded format, showed a strong representation for WA’s leading resources technology sector.

“The focus of WA Mining is really on technology, and we’ve been privileged to host some excellent conversations about how that technology can help the sector contribute to a more sustainable future,” she said.

For Coleman, events like the this are a great opportunity to come together “because no one individual or organisation has the solution to address these complex problems”.

“It takes diverse perspectives and skills to challenge the status quo, break down the traditional ways of thinking and the outdated approach to hierarchies so we can make sense of the issues and adaptively respond to them,” she said.