How IMARC 2025 is harnessing global change to catalyse mining’s next era

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Geopolitics, trade tensions, and shifting market priorities are rewriting the mining playbook.

In 2025, IMARC’s themes of strengthening supply chains, optimising costs, and driving productivity, address the urgent need to bridge boardroom strategy with the new operational realities. For Event Director Sherene Asnasyous, that means tackling how macro shocks ripple quickly into site-level decisions, and creating a program that connects those worlds. In this Q&A, she explains how this thinking has shaped IMARC 2025.

This year, with geopolitical issues and trade tensions—particularly between the US and other countries—there’s a big focus on strengthening supply chains. It’s about how nations are supporting critical mineral and natural resource supply chains and their trade partners. IMARC is tackling that at a macro level, but operationally, companies still need to protect their business. That’s where optimising costs and driving productivity come in.

It’s about managing the link between big-picture events and how quickly they impact day-to-day operations—making smarter calls on contracts, suppliers, resourcing, project go/no-go decisions, and investment. Strengthening supply chains also means making them reliable, sustainable, and resilient, which can come at a cost—forming new relationships and rethinking old ones. So, keeping costs aligned and productivity up is key.

And it’s not just governments and big miners; METS companies, contractors, suppliers, and OEMs are also recalibrating. Some have scaled back on things like electrification, which was huge a year or two ago, and are now focusing on automation, asset management, and maintenance—technologies that deliver a faster ROI, save money, and boost productivity. The program, speakers, and exhibition aim to capture both that macro-level context and the operational detail.

IMARC’s grown from about 50 exhibitors to around 500, all showcasing technologies, innovations, and services aimed at boosting productivity and cost efficiency. Meeting with CEOs is valuable, but many companies tell us they want more miners and technical operators at the event—people who can see, touch, and consider how a technology might work on-site.

The Mining Operators Series was created to bring those people in—operators, technical staff, procurement and innovation leads—offering complimentary entry so they can explore the floor, earn CPD points, attend sessions, and network. The Hosted Buyer Program takes it a step further, targeting procurement decision-makers from key organisations so, when companies like Epiroc or Hexagon bring their best equipment, the right people are there to connect.

It ties directly into IMARC’s themes of strengthening supply chains and driving productivity by engaging the full value chain—from junior miners and hundreds of investors to operators, governments, and international delegations. Attendance from state and federal ministers, plus representatives from places like the European Commission, Sweden, Mongolia, and Peru, means IMARC bridges everything from high-level policy to on-the-ground operations.

The Mining Operators Series caters to mine site operators, engineers, supervisors, and managers at any stage of development or production. A free Mining Guest Pass grants access to:

• Full conference program
• CPD-accredited sessions
• Networking events and receptions
• Exhibition
• Delegate lounge
• Catering
• Traxys IMARC Connect Meeting Platform

Register for your FREE Mining Guest Pass here.

The reality is there’s not enough capital flowing into the projects that need it, despite government pushes. Projects can take a long time to get moving, so Mines and Money remains a key platform to connect miners with investors, from juniors to major producers, and showcase opportunities to global funds, family offices, and more. It also reflects the changing profile of who’s investing in junior mining, with major miners looking for M&A prospects and governments, including export–import banks, in the mix.

It’s not always necessarily about their willingness to invest either; sometimes it’s about having the right environment to make introductions and match capital with the right opportunities. Events like this can even create a bit of a bandwagon effect, where popular projects attract more backers. Hosting it in Sydney, with its strong financial hub and international investor audience, has been a real advantage, especially for Australian projects.

It’s funny—when we first launched the Next Gen programs, exhibitors almost needed convincing to let school kids near their stands. Now, it’s the opposite: lots of companies want to be part of it right away! And schools and universities that used to need coaxing? Now there are waiting lists to get involved. IMARC has become a real highlight on the calendar for these groups.

For students, the exhibition floor offers a brilliant chance to actually see and touch technology, giving them a whole new perspective on the industry. These students get to participate in STEM in classrooms, but here they see it brought alive. This has also opened up opportunities for organisations to get global endorsements for their programs, which is fantastic.

On the Indigenous front, we’ve moved from just a single conference block to embedding Indigenous voices right across the program. We have speakers discussing decarbonisation, project development, and much more from Indigenous perspectives. Plus, this year, for the first time, there’s a First Nations Pavilion—Aboriginal businesses getting their own space to showcase services, inspired by international pavilions.

Eligible personnel from mining companies and mining contractors can attend IMARC for free with a Mining Guest Pass. For non-mining companies, use code NNB428 for 15% off Delegate Passes, which provides full access to the conference or JU7D6B for a free Expo Visitor Pass, granting access to the exhibition floor and select conference theatres. Don’t miss your chance to connect with the global mining and resources industry this October in Sydney.