GRX25: A trailblazing event

Proudly hosted by Austmine in partnership with AusIMM, the Global Resources Innovation Expo 2025 is set to showcase the best of mining innovation and technology.

Since its first iteration two decades ago, the Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX) – previously known as the Austmine Conference – has grown to become a leading industry innovation event.

An expo “by industry, for industry”, GRX brings people working across the global resources sector together to network, drive important conversations about the latest trends, and showcase cutting-edge innovation. Reflecting on the last 20 years, Austmine chief executive officer Christine Gibbs Stewart shed light on how GRX has evolved.

“Mining innovation was somewhat of an oxymoron 20 years ago,” Gibbs Stewart told Australian Mining. “The fact we were doing a conference involving technology and innovation in mining was new and rare, people weren’t really buying into the idea at the time. Fast forward to now, innovation is discussed in every boardroom and is part of every strategy.

“The use of technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence is powering the mining industry forward in several ways, including increasing efficiency, productivity and safety, but also through sustainability and the global energy transition.”

To keep up with the ever-changing technology and innovation space, GRX will be held annually beginning in 2025. The event’s name was changed to reflect its larger international audience.

GRX25 is focused on embracing a new era for the mining industry.
Image: Austmine

“We really want to attract everyone throughout the mining value chain,” Gibbs Stewart said.

“By combining the strengths of Austmine and AusIMM, we are coming together to set the strategic direction at GRX25 and carry forward the insights to better define policies and lead where the industry is heading from a strategic perspective.”

The central theme for GRX25 is ‘embracing a new era’. Gibbs Stewart said the theme symbolises the mining industry’s need to embrace change and evolve with the times.

“This includes adopting new technologies, looking at environmental impacts and ensuring there is a shared value with communities,” she said.

“It’s looking at an exciting future through the lens of harnessing technologies, which are impacting not only the mining industry, but our daily lives as well. We can’t afford to hold progress back; we have to embrace it.”

GRX25’s program will delve into the digital revolution and explore pioneering collaborations that break the mould.

“We have an exciting conference program lined up, which commences alongside the exhibition on May 20,” Stewart said. “We’ll have several pre-conference workshops, one of which is the Global Open Innovation Collab.

“We’ve invited innovation hubs, mining innovation teams and some of our collaboration partners from around the world to talk about how we can be more aligned as an industry in moving innovation forward, and what some of those key priorities are.”

Several speakers from around the world will also take the stage to foster a future-focused dialogue.

“One of the exciting speakers kicking off the conference is Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Australia’s first female astronaut and the director of space technology at the Australian Space Agency,” Stewart said.

“Other ideas to be explored over the three-day event include ‘pioneering changes across the globe’, ‘trailblazing technologies’, ‘shattering the boundaries’, and ‘paving the way to our bold future’.”

GRX25 will host an Industry Leaders and Awards Dinner, where excellence in innovation will be celebrated.

Five awards will also be presented: