Mining Society Distinguished Lecture: Closing The Loop - Why Remote Data Acquisition is the Key to the Future of Mining

Join the Melbourne Branch for the Mining Society Distinguished Lecture: Closing the Loop - Why remote data acquisition is the key to the future of mining.

About this event

The global mining industry is at a critical juncture: deposits are becoming deeper, lower-grade, and more remote, while demand for renewable energy minerals is soaring. This complexity, combined with rising ESG pressure and an acute skills shortage, demands a shift towards data-driven sustainability and profitability.

This lecture will explore the urgent business case for transitioning from traditional, human-centered inspection to automated, remote data acquisition. Current manual inspections are not only costly (estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars per week in lost production) but expose personnel to hazards and are also prone to error.

We will detail how innovative, sensor rich robotic platforms revolutionise this paradigm. These systems enable data capture to be scheduled during production from a central control centre, eliminating the need for personnel in hazardous zones and recovering significant lost production time.

Finally, we will address the "Great Unknown"—the immense, untapped value that this continuous, high-fidelity data unlocks by delivering insights that allow us to manage risks and to mine with less uncertainty. This revolution in data capture is projected to deliver significantly more value than current inspection activities, empowering mine operators with the real-time insights required for enhanced productivity, safety, and compliance in the era of Zero Entry Mining.

Program
5.00pm - 6.00pm Arrival & Pre-event networking
6.00pm - 7.00pm: Presentation
7.00pm - 8.00pm: Post event networking  

Speaker/s

Dr Joe Cronin

FAusIMM

CEO Australian Droid and Robot (ADR)
BE (Mech) PhD MBA

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Dr. Joe Cronin is a pioneer of automated production, with foundational expertise in the defense and aerospace industries. His early work with the U.S. Bomb Disposal team at Picatinny Arsenal established his understanding of risk mitigation using remote systems, but it was in the mining industry where he coined the term "Safety by Separation”, a concept he champions as an essential new control in the safety hierarchy.

Dr. Cronin established his mining expertise in the Canadian coal fields, where he delivered automated explosives charging systems for Orica. He then led the industry-defining LHD Automation program at Rio Tinto’s Northparkes Mines in 2013, creating a best-in-class example of low-cost, continuous underground production.

Frustrated by the mandatory production shutdowns required for human inspections, Dr. Cronin founded Australian Droid & Robot (ADR). Born a kilometer underground, ADR is the product of a seven-year intensive journey to develop the rugged, persistent robotic systems necessary for remote data acquisition in harsh hard rock environments. Having executed mining automation projects globally, Dr. Cronin’s passion for change has led one manager to describe him as a "polarising and disruptive influence in the industry", a badge he wears with pride. His contribution to Australian mining was officially recognised when he was awarded the 2025 AusIMM Mining Society Award for Excellence, a first for a robotics engineer.