HazardProof is a specialist electrical engineering services firm formed by Chris and Olivia Mapleson in 2024 to integrate hazardous area compliance into the full design and delivery cycle of mining projects. The company focuses on aligning high-voltage and low-voltage installations, switchrooms and process plant electrics with AS/NZS hazardous area classifications, zoning and equipment protection levels as mine infrastructure is upgraded or expanded. For operators, the model reduces rework during brownfield modifications and helps keep critical power and control systems compliant as standards and site layouts change.

Faster mine approvals hinge on resolving key technical, environmental and social questions much earlier in project planning, with BBA urging proponents to integrate geotechnical design, water management and community impact workstreams from the outset. The firm points to bottlenecks such as late-stage tailings storage facility concept changes and incomplete baseline hydrogeological data that trigger regulator queries and schedule slippage. For engineers, this means front-loading trade-off studies, closure concepts and cumulative effects assessments rather than deferring them to feasibility or permitting stages.

San Francisco Bay Area mining tech startups have attracted $2.1 billion, or 35% of global funding tracked across 170 companies in 22 countries, despite hosting only 13 firms versus 10 in Santiago and nine in Perth, which together raised $92 million. Five companies – led by KoBold Metals on $1.2 billion, Boston Metal on $485 million and Mariana Minerals on $394 million – account for $2.8 billion, with processing and refining drawing 38% of capital while mine-operations software gets just 5%. Rio Tinto and BHP Ventures dominate corporate backing, supporting 23 and 17 startups respectively, while Latin America’s 29 firms secure only $59 million despite Chile and Peru supplying 35% of global copper.