Mining’s smallest bottlenecks – such as faster‑than‑predicted conveyor belt wear, poorly performing transfer points and uncontrolled dust escape – are identified as major drivers of unplanned downtime and reduced throughput in bulk materials handling. The Bulk Handling Technical Conference and Expo in Melbourne this September will focus on these everyday engineering issues, bringing together conveyor specialists, transfer chute designers and dust control vendors. For site engineers, the message is to prioritise condition monitoring and incremental design tweaks on belts, chutes and enclosures before pursuing large capital upgrades.

HVME 2027 in the Hunter Valley is being positioned as a forum for miners, OEMs and tech suppliers to confront the region’s shift from coal-dominated operations towards artificial intelligence, automation and more diversified resource projects. Organisers aim to bring together coal producers, heavy industry and emerging technology vendors to discuss practical deployment of autonomous haulage, digital fleet management and AI-driven planning across existing Hunter sites. For engineers, the event signals growing pressure to retrofit legacy coal infrastructure with advanced control systems while planning for a more mixed commodity and industrial base.

Autonomous Komatsu 930E haul trucks have gone live at Vale’s Salobo copper complex in Brazil, integrating with the mine’s existing high-throughput open-pit operation. In parallel, Vale Base Metals has approved a Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) project at Salobo III, expected to add 6 Mt per year of ore to the plant’s processing capacity. The combination of AHS haulage and CPF will push higher tonnage through the pit–plant system, tightening constraints on dispatch planning, crusher feed control and tailings/water management.