Process Innovation
Australia’s contract mining sector is undergoing a quiet revolution—one that could fundamentally reshape the relationship between contractors and mine owners.
When PLS chief executive Dale Henderson told the WA Mining Club’s November luncheon that it’s “easier to get things done in Brazil than in Western Australia,” the room went quiet for a moment.
In mining, every generation gets its own frontier.
Australia’s mining sector could be overlooking a low-risk, high-reward tailings management method that’s been delivering stability and efficiency in other parts of the world for decades.
When global power plays, policy whiplash and economic shocks collide, opportunity hides in the chaos — and for Australia’s critical minerals sector, survival now depends on strategy as much as supply.
Seiche waves might be rare in mining, but new research shows they could pack enough force to overtop in-pit tailings storage facilities with serious consequences for operations, infrastructure, and safety.
Mining loves a neat correlation – tonnes per shift, dollars per ounce, emissions per unit, but as Peter Burton pointed out at AusIMM’s Critical Minerals 2025 in Perth, one thing that refuses to fit a tidy graph is safety performance.
When Jeff Samuels took the stage at the NSW Resources Regulator’s 33rd Mechanical Engineering Safety Seminar, he didn’t mince words: excavators roll over, people die, and the only way to ensure real protection is through ISO-certified rollover and falling object protective structures.
Unlocking up to 70 per cent faster mine planning cycles and millions in additional project value is now within reach for operations that combine centralised data systems, virtual twins and advanced optimisation engines.
A waste stream from iron ore processing is proving it can outperform conventional materials in building mine haul roads and deliver major environmental gains.
