mining innovation

Why your mine plan’s lying to you - and what Rondon and Assibey-Bonsu say to do about it before it costs you millions in misclassified waste and phantom tonnes

At the AusIMM 2025 Mineral Resource Estimation Conference, Dr Oscar Rondon, principal geostatistician at Datamine, tackled a question that has dogged mining professionals for decades: Is estimating recoverable resources still hopeless? The talk revisited a decades-old challenge in resource estimation, combining Rondon’s clear communication with Assibey-Bonsu’s extensive experience in the mining industry.

How erosion models are busting gullies, predicting the future and helping miners design landforms that last centuries and pass the pub test

What if you could fast-forward a century to see whether your rehabilitated mine landform holds its shape or collapses into a network of gullies? At a recent seminar hosted by the Office of the Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner (OQMRC), one message rang clear: erosion and landscape evolution models are no longer just academic exercises—they’re digital crystal balls for mine closure planning.

Long-life sand project in WA nears final approvals as Asia’s industrial demand collides with critical shortage of high-grade supply

In the scrubby sands of Western Australia’s Mid West, a quietly ambitious mining development is nearing a final government tick — and it’s shaping up to be a masterclass in low-impact, high-efficiency industrial minerals extraction.