Sandvik’s Digital Mining Technologies division, created in 2021 to drive underground electrification, automation, digitalisation and end-to-end optimisation, is now deploying interoperable systems across planning, execution and processing. The business integrates Deswik mine planning, Newtrax IoT and OptiMine/Fleet management with AutoMine automation to link real-time telemetry from loaders, trucks and drills to short-interval control and production scheduling. For engineers, the key shift is from siloed fleet and planning tools to a single data environment that can support dynamic haulage routing, energy use tracking and condition-based maintenance.

Rapid expansion across Papua New Guinea’s resources sector is driving the PNG Expo in Port Moresby as a key forum for miners, contractors and OEMs to negotiate new projects and supply contracts face to face. Delegates are targeting upcoming large-scale copper–gold and LNG developments, with particular interest in local haul road construction, modular camp infrastructure and power solutions for remote high-rainfall sites. For geotechnical and civil teams, the event signals growing demand for slope stability design, tailings storage planning and logistics corridors across highly weathered tropical terrain.

BHP president Americas Brandon Craig describes a “massive opportunity” to lift copper output from Tier‑1 assets such as the Escondida open pit in Chile and the Olympic Dam underground operation in South Australia. He points to latent capacity in existing concentrators, debottlenecking of haulage and crushing circuits, and incremental leaching projects as lower‑risk growth options compared with greenfield builds. For geotechnical and mining teams, the focus is on optimising pit slopes, underground ground support and tailings storage to sustain higher throughput without major new footprints.