Chris Carr and Peter Hills on Life of Mine Podcast

Underground Operators 2023 Committee on the Life of Mine podcast

The Life of Mine podcast is presented by mining broadcaster Matt Michaels, who uncovers the needs and concerns of the mining community. His weekly podcast acts as a catalyst for action after he found, in his own work-life, “downfalls with money management, investing, social behaviours and his general attitude towards working in general”, striving in every episode to “play a vital role in the industry through shared experiences of himself and others”.

Guests: Chris Carr and Peter Hills

Chris Carr, FAusIMM(CP),  joined the AusIMM as a student member in 1984 and has extensive experience in underground mining, contracting and open pit mining. He now works for IGO and sits on the AusIMM Board. The Underground Operators conference in 2023 marks Chris’ sixth year of being on the organising committee of the conference. 

Peter Hills, FAusIMM(CP), is now in his seventh year of sitting on the Underground Operators Conference organising committee and continues to speak passionately about the conference. He has been a member of the AusIMM since 1983. 

History of Underground Operators

Peter Hills
“The first edition was held in 1977 in broken Hill. And we’re up to number 15 with this particular event. It started off in Broken Hill with 70 or 80 people. Now we're getting over a thousand. Everyone gets something out of the conference. That's what I found. The whole underground mining crowd is there.”

Chris Carr
“Over time, it's moved from a few papers and a bit of a get together to a major event. People say, if you only go to one thing, you go to Underground Operators. Just looking at the way the exhibition has grown from a few stands with drinks and food to an all-encompassing major event in its own right.”

Turning abstracts into quality presentations

“In terms of themes, the idea has always been to remain current in our thinking. And the papers that are looking at current trends are certainly what we’re after."

"We typically get eighty-plus abstracts, and for various reasons that will get paired down until we end up with somewhere between 35, 38, low 40s, that actually make it into the conference.”

Hottest topics at the conference

Chris Carr
“For me, I think the trend on mine electrification, and I'm leading a panel discussion on that. We've got a couple of papers on that. I think that is a bit of a sleeping giant. I don't think people have quite cottoned onto what an advantage underground electrification is going to be. So, I'm really looking forward to that.”

Peter Hills
“Geotech papers and what people are doing in that space. I do a lot of work on shafts, so hearing what people are talking about in the technology for big shaft projects is always interesting.”

Benefits to attending the conference

Chris Carr
“The part we should emphasize is the networking. The contacts you pick up and the people you meet as your career develops. When I started going to Underground Operators, I met so many people in the industry that I found helpful as my careers progressed. That's one thing people should remember. You can read the papers, you can watch webinars, but to be there in person and meet people, that's a huge benefit.”

Peter Hills
“People go to Underground Operators to learn, and they go there to talk. So if you know somebody's got a particular piece of expertise, you can ring them up and they might give you a bit of time. But to actually have a really good conversation about a topic and what people are doing, conferences provide that opportunity, and people go there with the expectation that they're going there to learn and share ideas. And so that's what they do."

Listen to Matt Michael’s "Life of Mine" podcast now here.

Matt Michael
“Now don't forget, if you'd like a hundred dollar discount on your ticket all the way up until the event, go to standard registration for the full ticket, click register. And then when you select your ticket, use the promo code LOM for $100 off - absolute bargain!"

“You’d be mad not to use that, and you'd be mad not to go.”