Europe
At first glance, the WA Mining Club’s Market Outlook Luncheon at Optus Stadium looked like it would follow a familiar script.
AI isn’t the risk in mining.
There was a time when mining’s job was simple: dig it up, ship it out, repeat.
After a shaky start to 2025, the Australian exploration sector appears to be tentatively turning a corner.
When global lenders assess mining projects, it is no longer enough to meet Australian legislation – financiers are demanding alignment with international ESG standards, and the gaps are costing companies time and money.
China quietly built the world’s most powerful critical minerals supply chains while other nations - including Australia - dozed through a geopolitical shift that now threatens economic security, trade independence, and defence readiness.
Global tariffs, record gold highs, and shifting battery metal fortunes are reshaping mining in 2025, with big implications for projects and suppliers.
Rare earth metallurgy is unlike any other field in mining, and as Damien Krebs told AusIMM’s Metallurgical Society in his webinar Rare Earth Metallurgy 101, every single deposit is a puzzle that defies cookie-cutter solutions.
Henry Dillon, Global Customer Success Manager - Geoscience at Maptek, used his time on stage at APCOM2025 in Perth to challenge one of the industry’s most entrenched habits - treating resource models as static snapshots.
From the outside, the conversation around digital mining often gets framed in broad terms - automation, Information of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) but for those working underground or in control rooms, the real question is more practical: how do these tools actually solve the daily challenges?
For Stewart Johnston, Account Manager - Mine Electrification and Automation at ABB Australia, the key lies in making information usable, timely, and connected across the mining value chain.
