Mining Geology 2019

Future technology and practices to be showcased at International Mining Geology Conference

The pace and scale of change in the international resources sector comes as no surprise to most mining professionals across the globe. This change means that encouraging discussions around how best professionals can embrace developments in the technology space are becoming increasingly more important.

Australia’s geological evolution can often be seen through the prism of human impact, and profound developments in technology and science are no exception. This phenomenon is at the core of AusIMM’s International Mining Geology 2019 conference theme, Mining Geology: 2020 and beyond.

To be held in Perth from 25-26 November, the conference will bring together over 300 professionals from across the globe to discuss emerging technologies and their impact on the future of the industry, including best practice in data collection, mining geology, AI and automation.

Through an in-depth analysis of these topics, the conference will explore how these areas of advancement will maximise orebody value ultimately driving increased productivity for professionals, companies and the Australian sector as a whole.

AusIMM CEO, Stephen Durkin, says the conference’s focus on the future is attractive to professionals in Australia and across the globe.

“Professional Development is more important than ever in the radically changing environment and the Mining Geology 2019 conference offers a great opportunity for delegates to participate in an educative and informative discussion about the future”, said Mr Durkin.

“Overwhelmingly, professionals want to be part of the discussion on the opportunities around technological advancements and best practice.”

John Ashton, a consulting geologist and keynote speaker at the conference, said that key developments in technology were changing practices in the industry.

“In both exploration and mine geology the largest growth area in recent decades has been the computerisation and analysis of all kinds of data and in particular 3D modelling,” Mr Ashton said.

“The integrated interpretation of exploration data has the potential of revealing new mineral deposits and will increasingly challenge the long-lived mantra that orebodies are found with boots and hammers.”

Along with John Ashton, conference speakers include Dr Angel Abbud-Madrid (Director of the Centre for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines), Mark Pepper (Manager Geology Mining at BHP, West Australian Iron Ore) and Alina Arnold (Head of Indices, Mysteel Global).

More information on AusIMM’s International Mining Geology 2019 conference can be found at www.mininggeology.ausimm.com