The 2025 AusIMM Underground Operators Conference has officially begun at the Adelaide Convention Centre, with key insights into the future of the Australian mining industry already unfolding.
Following the opening of the event by conference chair Alastair Grubb and an address by South Australian Minister for Mining Tom Koutsantonis, Adriatic Metals chief executive officer and managing director Laura Tyler gave a future-focused keynote that impressed upon the crowd the need for bold innovation amidst the “next portal of development and discovery that will change our industry over the next 30 years”.
“AI and machine learning potential will continue to increase as expanded quantum computing speeds up the training of AI models we currently use in our autonomous fleets and robotics,” Tyler said.
“We need a culture of innovation based on persistence, resilience and collaboration. Not all ideas will survive. Some will fail, some will falter, but some will generate better ideas, and some will grow into new businesses.
“Some may even underpin a complete revolution of how we extract the minerals that we need.”
This call to innovative action set the tone for the first day, which saw presentations from BHP, South32, Evolution Mining and Rio Tinto.
At the heart of many, if not all, presentations was a strong undercurrent of safety consciousness above all else.
MMG and mining technology expert Hexagon teamed up to present a case study of underground fatigue management at MMG’s Rosebery zinc, copper and lead mine in Tasmania.
In 2023, the mine deployed the Hexagon Operator Alertness System, or ‘OAS’. The system was a huge success, continuing to decrease fatigue incidents exponentially over time.
Hexagon principle safety advisor Josh Savit told the audience the industry is entering a new era that opens up opportunities not only for growth, but to unlock new, industry-leading innovations that make underground mining safer and more efficient than ever before.
“The industry is growing and we have a massive opportunity, but we also have a duty to work, not just as technology providers, not just as engineers, but as people – to be there for our people who are in the mines to make sure that they come home on a daily basis,” Savit said.
The next two days of the 2025 Underground Operators Conference will welcome thought leaders from BHP, Glencore Newmont, Evolution Mining and leading mine services companies.
Key topics will include sustainability, dewatering, stope optimisation, collaborative contracting, underground development and tunnelling, leaching innovations for sustainable mineral extraction, as well as case studies from Alkane’s Tomingley and Gold Fields’ St Ives gold mines, Newmont’s Musselwhite mine and BHP’s Olympic Dam.
Don’t miss out on your opportunity to learn, connect and share. Find out more about the 2025 Underground Operators Conference here.
