On March 25-26, 2019, the Future of Mining Australia conference will address the long-term goals of the industry with an agenda that has been created by bringing together an advisory board of select leading mining experts and new talent.

With more than 500 professionals expected to be in attendance, it will cover a vast range of content spanning right across the entire mining life cycle with technology, development and sustainability at its core. It will explore areas of development and the challenges ahead, as mining begins to look beyond the now and plan for the future.

The conference will, for the first time, allow start-up companies to showcase their latest innovations, game-changing equipment and new solutions via the Future of MinTech. In partnership with Unearthed, the one-day forum is dedicated to an audience of METS (mining, equipment, technology and services) businesses, mining companies and industry innovators, with content discussions on the key drivers, trends and strategies to working with and aiding the success of start-ups in mining.

Key questions the Future of Mining Australia conference will seek to answer include:

• Disruption in mining: Which social, geo-political and economic forces and market trends are reshaping the mining industry?
• Influencing change: How are mining companies re-focussing their efforts on creating a united workforce that is driven by innovation, problem-solving, collaboration and transparency?
• Value-chain optimisation: How is the industry challenging itself to develop new ideas, out-of-the-box strategies and next-level optimisation?
• Game-changing equipment: Which new technologies are and will be applied across the mining life cycle to change the future of mining?
• The human effect: How can we continue to liberate our workforce through new job creation, training and development?

Speakers delivering on these topic areas include Ricus Grimbeek, chief operating officer, North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries, Vale Base Metals; Jake Klein, chief executive officer, Evolution Mining; Friska Wirya, change lead - digital, Newcrest Mining; Sabina Shugg AM, hub director, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mining Innovation Hub - CRC ORE; and Allan Trench, professor of practice, MBA director, University of Western Australia.

Future of Mining Australia is supported by an array of solution providers specialising in mining equipment, engineering, analytics, Internet of Things, digitalisation, consulting, advisory and artificial intelligence. These include Caterpillar, Komatsu, Epiroc, Motion Metrics, Howden, MST Global, Vega, Earth AI, Petra Data Science and Inmarsat.