AusIMM hosts successful Technology Forum in Perth
AusIMM’s latest Technology Forum, held in November in Perth, brought together an influential cross-section of senior mining leaders, geologists, software vendors, robotics specialists, and process engineers to explore the cutting-edge technologies shaping the future of our industry.
The forum emphasised the increasing convergence of digital transformation, sustainability, and human-centred innovation in mining, and featured speakers from SGS Natural Resources, Quartex, Accenture, Dassault Systèmes, Plotlogic, Covalent Lithium, Datamine and MX3 Diagnostics.
The keynote delivered by Marco Ribas, Global Mining Industry Lead, Accenture explored how artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the transformation of remote operations in mining. Marco’s presentation highlighted the shift from traditional, control-centric models to intelligent, agentic operations – where AI agents drive real-time decisions, automate processes and integrate data across the value chain.
Anna Roberts, National Lab Excellence Manager at SGS presented her insights from their PhotonAssay technology application in Kalgoorlie, offering a clear, practical view of how to design comparison studies between traditional fire assay and PhotonAssay. PhotonAssay is an innovative alternative for gold analysis, providing lower energy use per sample, reduced CO2-equivalent emissions, the elimination of Scope 1 emissions and the removal of hazardous lead waste from the process. Together, these improvements demonstrate how smarter analytical technology can materially reduce mining’s environmental footprint.
Datamine’s VP Exploration John Shippick presented on how modern geological data-capture technologies – particularly mobile LiDAR scanning and digital-twin workflows – are fundamentally changing exploration. John’s presentation focused on the importance of capturing data rather than interpretation, enabling explorers to build project-scale digital twins in ArcGIS Pro that integrate all modalities. This improves decision-making, preserves geological insight in an AI-ready format, and ultimately supports more sustainable mining by reducing rework, lowering field time, and enabling smarter targeting with fewer environmental impacts.
Plotlogic (Felice Quach) and Covalent Lithium (Tomas Valjanovski) co-presented a detailed case study on the deployment of Plotlogic’s OreSense® system, and how next-generation ore classification technology is being embedded into daily mining operations to deliver faster, more objective and more consistent ore/waste decision-making. Imaging spectrometry and machine learning are used to scan active mining faces and stockpiles, generating high-resolution ore/waste heat maps in under 20 minutes.
Quartex’s Navin Nirmalrajan presented on strengthening governance and improving reporting accuracy through more competent, material and transparent disclosures. Quartex’s Public Disclosure & Reporting solution can provide organisations with a central, robust and auditable source of truth for Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve disclosures and other corporate reporting needs. The session also highlighted a case study from a tier 1 mining operator, demonstrating how complex reporting environments cannot be reliably managed through spreadsheets or manual systems.
Ting Ting Lee and Trevor Kilpatrick from MX3 Diagnostics presented on a multi-site trial that Komatsu completed, assessing real-time hydration and heat stress monitoring across operations in Rockhampton, Rutherford, and Moss Vale. Over 6 months, workers undertook twice-daily salivary hydration tests, with results automatically uploaded to the MX3 Heat Stress Risk Management Toolkit. This enabled supervisors to monitor both site-based and job role–specific heat stress risks, identifying high-risk sites and individuals based on environmental conditions and task demands. The trial demonstrated strong feasibility and engagement, with measurable improvements in worker hydration.
The November Technology Forum wraps up a busy event schedule for AusIMM, including three Forums in 2025. We are excited to grow the Technology Forum series in 2026, with five forums to be run across Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. We extend a thank you to everyone that attended the Technology Forums this year and for helping the Technology Forum become such a success.
Thank you to all our speakers: Marco Ribas, Anna Roberts, Ting Ting Lee, Trevor Kilpatrick, John Shippick, Ralph Smith, Navin Nirmalrajan, Felice Quach and Tomas Valjanovski.