Beyond Zero Harm: Autonomous Systems and the Future of Mine Rescue and Safety

06 May 2026
River View Room 4
Tech Innovation Stream , Panel Discussion

Mining’s pursuit of zero harm has reached an inflection point. This session brings together two organisations spanning Australia’s innovation pipeline, from CSIRO’s world-leading AI vision and robotics research to SAPHI’s commercial deployment of AI safety systems on active mine sites.

Together they confront the strategic question: why does life-saving technology still take years to reach operational settings, and what must change to accelerate zero-entry safety at scale? A mining company customer will join to share their deployment experience firsthand.

Identify the highest-risk manual tasks at your operation and evaluate whether autonomous safety systems could reduce or eliminate human exposure within 12 months.

Moderator
Rangimaria Tapine
Rangimaria Tapine, Superintendent Drill & Blast - Rio Tinto
Speakers
Dr Chad Hargrave PhD MAusIMM
Dr Chad Hargrave PhD MAusIMM, Research Group Leader, Mining Technologies - CSIRO
Liam Manning AAusIMM
Liam Manning AAusIMM, CCO & Co-founder - SAPHI
Lochy Jones
Lochy Jones, Global Transport Safety - Orica