QME 2026 outdoor zone: full-scale fleet demos and selection notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME) 2026 has expanded its outdoor exhibition area after the initial floor space sold out, opening more room for full-scale surface and underground equipment displays. OEMs and service providers are expected to bring large plant such as 100-tonne-class haul trucks, drill rigs and modular processing units that cannot be accommodated indoors, enabling live demonstrations of manoeuvrability, noise levels and dust-control systems. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the enlarged outdoor zone offers direct comparison of fleet options and support gear under realistic operating conditions.
Technical Brief
- Expanded hardstand layout allows manoeuvring and static display of multi-axle, mine-spec mobile plant.
- Outdoor pads are being configured for crane-assisted assembly of large modular units on-site.
- OEMs are planning to bring full-height surface drill rigs requiring unrestricted mast raise and slew envelopes.
- Space allocation enables side-by-side comparison of multiple truck body designs and tyre configurations.
- Noise and dust monitoring during demos will give indicative compliance data against typical mine site limits.
- Access routes and turning radii are being planned for low-loader delivery of oversize mining equipment.
- Service providers intend to show mobile workshops, lube trucks and field support rigs in operational setups.
- For mine project teams, such concentrated heavy-equipment exposure can compress pre-feasibility fleet selection timelines.
Our Take
Within our 838 Mining stories, Queensland features heavily as a showcase hub for Australian surface and underground equipment, so QME’s outdoor area is likely to be a key venue where OEMs trial-launch or regionalise gear for local conditions before rolling it out nationally.
Prime Creative Media’s role across many of the 1609 tag-matched Projects and Product pieces suggests that coverage of QME in Queensland often feeds directly into follow-up case studies, giving suppliers a pathway from exhibition demos to documented project adoption.
For Australian Mining readers, QME’s Queensland setting is strategically important because the state concentrates both coal and critical minerals operations, meaning equipment highlighted outdoors there is typically optimised for high-rainfall, high-heat, and abrasive conditions that are relevant to a wide spread of mine sites across the country.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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