Address to the World Mining Congress 27 June 2023.

POLICY AND GOVERNANCE FOR THE NEW ECONOMY

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledge Traditional owners and leadership.

Charlie Sartain and the organising committee.

Ministers and other dignities.

Industry colleagues and friends.

And to borrow from my African friends, all other protocols observed.

It is certainly a great honour to be here with you today.  I can only hope the papers presented and the ensuing discussions prompt both honest dialogue and some fresh ideas on how we deal with a fundamentally broken system.

Original text from BHP

Thank you Jillian, and good morning everyone.

Firstly I’d like to echo the thoughts of our hosts in acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet.

I am pleased to be here today.

This is a pivotal time for mining. 

The past few years have seen a marked increase in awareness on the part of policy makers  of the importance of metals and minerals, not only to the functioning of the economy today, but the functioning of the economy of tomorrow and, critically, to the urgent global effort towards decarbonisation.

Chairman of International Organising Committee of World Mining Congress

Ladies & Gentlemen

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Turrbul and Yuggera peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land that we’re meeting on today, and pay my respect to their Elders past and present.

The organization called the World Mining Congress was established on the initiative of Professor Bolesław Krupinski in 1958.

The World Mining Congress was appointed in specific geopolitical conditions as a reaction of the mining community in the world to the irresistible need for mutual cooperation and development of the mining industry, which is crucial for the economy of each country.

27 June 2023, Brisbane, Australia: Today, ICMM is announcing a new collective commitment by members to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the mining and metals industry and positively influence the communities that mining companies are a part of.

ICMM members have committed to work together to improve the experience of all workers and eradicate discrimination, harassment, and assault from our workplaces.

Plus many industry heads – BHP, Anglo, Fortescue, Orica

Media welcome.

Day 2, Tuesday 27 June at the 26th World Mining Congress, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

Opening speeches, 8 am to 9.05

• Hua Guo, Congress Chair
• Marek Cala, WMC international organising committee, AGH University
• Larry Marshall, Chief Executive, CSIRO
• Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland

On the first day of the Congress we explore:

• Minerals policy requirements for the next 30 years.
• Sand – the most mined mineral on Earth, and perhaps a critical mineral.
• Sustainable concrete in an urbanising world.
• The art of closure: Mines turning into physics labs, parks, pumped hydro.
• First Nations perspective on mining closures and transitions – voices from Australia, Canada and Mongolia.
• Plus state and federal ministers speaking.

Details below.

Mines turning into physics labs, parks, pumped hydro…

Monday 26 June 2023

Many major mines around the world will close and thousands of new mines will open over the coming decades as the industry transforms.

So, what can you do with holes in the ground and heaps of tailings? A surprising amount, according to Professor Tom Measham, research director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies (CRC TiME).

Australian examples of the art of mine closure include transitions to a recreational public park, an underground physics research laboratory and a pumped hydro facility.

Media release from the Cooperative Research Centre for Transitions in Mining Economies (CRC TiME)

The Cooperative Research Centre for Transitions in Mining Economies (CRC TiME) will be sharing its latest mine transition findings at the World Mining Congress in Brisbane on 26-29 June, 2023.

What happens after mining ends – economically, socially, environmentally and culturally – is one of the most significant issues facing communities, regions, governments and industry globally.

It’s a challenge that is only growing: some mines that began during the last boom are now approaching end of life. This is occurring at the same time as decarbonisation is driving unprecedented minerals demand and a slow transition away from coal-powered energy generation.

Just another day for Brisbane’s mining pioneers

Media call, noon Sunday at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, on the steps of the Merivale Street entrance.

Brisbane is hosting the World Mining Congress this week, starting Monday, with 3,500 delegates from 70 countries.  

We’re offering interviews and a media call at noon today to brief you on the Congress, and Brisbane’s ongoing role in creating a safer, more sustainable industry.

• World Mining Congress program manager Prof Mike Hood
• Brisbane’s CSIRO researchers who
• Have made deep mining safer with longwall technology
• Are now helping NASA prepare for mining on the Moon
• The sand guru from UQ – sand is the most mined material on Earth
• And Thiess – started as a road building business, now a leader in autonomous mining services
• Plus overlay of autonomous vehicles, NASA’s Artemis mission and more
• Plus Centre walk through of exhibition set up with trucks, tech and hi vis.  

Tomorrow, Monday 26 June, Brisbane welcomes 3,000 delegate to the 26^th World Mining Congress and the first in Australia. The Congress has been ten years in the planning with CSIRO’s Hua Guo leading a delegation to Brazil to bid for Brisbane in 2016.

“Here at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, in the heart of beautiful Brisbane, we have gathered the greatest minds in mining around the world, the influential companies, the smartest inventors, the most progressive investors and thousands of passionate delegates,” says Dr Guo who is the Congress Chair.

“Together, we are the people who can reimagine mining to resource the world for tomorrow, creating value for society,” he says.

“We started organising the Congress on the cusp of COVID, in February 2020,” says Congress organiser Emma Bowyer. “It’s exciting to be back in action and filling Brisbane’s massive Convention Centre.”

The big question at the Congress is, “Can mining walk and talk the same time,” says Professor Mike Hood, program director for the Congress. “Can we find and sustainably mine the vast amounts of critical minerals needed for decarbonisation. And at the same time, how can we decarbonise the industry itself, and make mining safer.”

“Brisbane researchers have many of the answers,” he says.

“Sand is the most exploited natural resource on the planet,” says UQ’s Professor Daniel Franks. It’s the critical mineral for city and infrastructure building. for cities. However, its extraction from seas, rivers, beaches and quarries has an impact on the environment and surrounding communities. He’s leading a symposium on Monday on how to produce sand and other building materials sustainably, including harvesting it from mining waste.

“Around 90 per cent of Australia’s underground coal production comes from longwall mining using massive machines augmented with automation technologies developed by CSIRO in Brisbane,” says CSIRO’s Dr Jonathon Ralston. “At the Congress we’ll present our latest remote innovations utilising 50 individual lidars, multiple cameras, and high-performance inertial sensors on production mining equipment.”

He says that this technology combined with modelling, data fusion and visualisation will provide real time, actionable information for underground mining operations, making them safer.

And he’ll talk about the other end of the scale – small scale mining on the Moon to support NASA’s planned return mission, Artemis. Producing just one kilogram of a resource such as water, oxygen or a building material on the Moon could save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mining industry pioneer Thiess will be joining Caterpillar at the Congress for a live demonstration of remote operation of Cat semi-autonomous dozers on an operating mine site, more than 800km away in Central Qld. Trent Smith, Group Manager – Autonomy Services is available at the media call to discuss Thiess’ shift to autonomous mining

The five Thiess brothers started as road contractors on the Darling Downs in 1934. They went on to win their first mining contract at Muswellbrook Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley in 1944.

And then the Congress. On the first day we will explore:

Media accreditation is still open.

For more information and accreditation contact
Niall Byrne, media@wmc2023.org,  +61-417-131-977 and visit www.wmc2023.org.

About the Congress

The World Mining Congress was first held in 1958 in Poland. It has been held every two to three years ever since. It is UN-affiliated and continues to have a secretariat in Poland.

The 26^th World Congress will be held for the first time in Australia, spanning the entire Brisbane Convention Centre from 26 to 29 June 2023. The Congress anticipates over 3000 participants from over 70 countries.

The Congress was brought to Australia with the support of the host, CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency. The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources is our Major Sponsor and Queensland is our Host State Sponsor. A large suite of leading global and national companies and research agencies are also major sponsors of the Congress.

Inclusion of Congress speakers in media releases does not imply endorsement by the WMC, its hosts, partners and sponsors.

Resources

NASA moon mission media kit: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i-press-kit/

And video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmC-FwibsZg&t=19s

Thiess media kit and overlay: https://bit.ly/3Px6nv5

CSIRO Longwall automation: https://bit.ly/3qXB16R

CSIRO Moon mining: https://bit.ly/3Xo9YNU

UQ and sand: https://bit.ly/43Tm9EU and https://smi.uq.edu.au/project/responsible-sand.