BHP-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) asset president Adam Lancey is heralding a new age in mining at the Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX) in Brisbane.

Backgrounding his keynote speech this morning was the fact that 40 per cent of the steelmaking coal that allowed the world to urbanise and decarbonise was sourced from Queensland, and mining’s contribution to the state’s economy was $122 billion, he said. 

Mining as the enabler to change in the physical world would need to keep up with global urbanisation and population growth, climate change, big data, robotics and artificial intelligence, Mr Lancey said.

Main image: Komatsu autonomous truck

This and the geopolitical shifts such as the rise of China and India, he said. It was now a matter of looking forward, Mr Lancey told this morning’s audience.

The mining community needed to connect its myriad problems with solutions at a pace the rest of the world was operating at, he said. “And I – hand on heart – accept the challenge to be better at articulating the problems we’re looking to solve.”

BMA had made a start, Mr Lancey said, citing the Goonyella-Riverside mine as the world’s largest fully autonomous open-cut coal operation with 65 driverless trucks.

Resources would be to Queensland what Silicon Valley was to California, he said, but it needed investment in technology, infrastructure, skills and innovation, along with streamlined permits and competitive policy, regulatory and fiscal settings.

He then addressed the elephant in the room, coal royalties which he said were holding the industry back.

“We have one of the world’s highest coal royalty rates imposed by the previous Queensland Government which makes it very challenging to justify future investment in this state. 

“Our resources sector can be to Queensland what Silicon Valley is to Northern California – a source of pride and prosperity. But we need to be competitive to unlock that potential. 

“… But all of us in this room would know that a fast adopter of innovation doesn’t come for free. It’s capital intensive and it needs long term commitment.

“That’s why we need to start thinking about mining as our Silicon Valley and back the resources sector. We need to be competitive now for the future …and why we need to work in partnership to move forward.”

Mining was at the frontier of engineering and research, Mr Lancey said.

“… But individually and collectively, our industry needs to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. We need to be deeply curious. We need to be open to new ideas. We need to experiment. After all, resources are becoming more difficult to find and extract. 

“… Still, we must take the chance and commit to change. That means business and government need to work together – as partners – to overcome barriers to growth. 

“Given the size and scope of the challenge we face; and given the acceleration of change – the biggest risk we could take, and the biggest mistake we could make, would be to do nothing. “

GRX continues today and tomorrow at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.