)
)
)
Celebrating Excellence: Winners Announced at GRX26 Industry Awards Dinner
Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking mining industry companies and individuals were celebrated at the GRX26 Industry Awards Dinner.
Guests reconnected with peers, celebrated collective achievements, and reflected on the role of Australian innovation in shaping a more competitive, sustainable and future-ready resources industry.
Craig Senger Excellence in Export Award
2026 Winner: Pitcrew AI
Pitcrew AI is an AI-driven automation platform improving efficiency, safety and productivity across mining operations. Designed for complex, asset-intensive environments, it streamlines workflows, reduces manual intervention and delivers real-time operational insights. Its autonomous haul truck tyre inspection technology improves asset reliability while minimising manual checks in high-risk areas. Pitcrew AI has also demonstrated strong export growth, with increasing international adoption and strategic partnerships across key mining markets, reinforcing its ability to deliver measurable operational and maintenance efficiencies worldwide.
2025 Winner: Austin Engineering
Austin Engineering exemplifies Australian export excellence, delivering mining equipment globally that shows how Australian-engineered innovation can solve mining challenges worldwide. Austin Engineering manufactures on four continents, establishing the largest global footprint of any dedicated customised off-highway truck body and bucket provider.
Their strategic footprint has driven remarkable export
growth, reaching $173 million just in the last financial year – representing 55 per cent of total revenue.
Outstanding Innovative METS Company Award
2026 Winner: CorePlan
CorePlan is a digital operations platform purpose-built for mining exploration, helping drilling contractors and mining companies replace manual spreadsheets and outdated legacy systems. The platform streamlines field operations from site preparation through drilling, improving cost validation, team alignment and operational efficiency. With enterprise-grade security, flexible permissions and powerful API integrations, CorePlan enables faster decision-making, stronger compliance and greater control across modern mining operations.
2025 Winner: BluVein
Established in 2021, BluVein has engineered a game-changing approach to mining electrification. Their patented dynamic charging rail system allows battery-electric haul trucks to receive continuous power while in motion. This eliminates compromises that have hindered previous electrification efforts in both open pit and underground environments.
By enabling vehicles to operate with smaller batteries and charge continuously along haul routes, BluVein provides miners with a viable pathway to eliminate diesel dependence whilst maintaining or improving productivity.
Excellence in Resources by a New Professional Award
2026 Winner: Janina Bauer GAusIMM, Rio Tinto
Janina Elyse is a graduate process engineer at Rio Tinto whose honours research with Nimy Resources explored a new pathway for extracting gallium from WA primary ore. Designing laboratory testing and process evaluation from the ground up, her work demonstrated technical feasibility while identifying opportunities to reduce chemical use, fresh water consumption and harmful inputs. The project highlighted the potential for primary gallium production in Australia, supporting future critical minerals supply.
2025 Winner: Thomas Taylor MAusIMM, Senior Metallurgist, Fortescue
At Iron Bridge, a key technical risk was identified in the product moisture with the potential to cause bottlenecks. This challenge was resolved under Thomas’s guidance through a range of innovative solutions, including the novel application of vibration to vacuum filtration and AI vision for detection of wet material. The project required a diverse skill set, managing up to 8 contractor groups whilst deploying novel technologies and achieving daily production goals. At the halfway mark, the project has already enhanced the safety of shipping the product whilst achieving KPI’s for the operation.
Women in STEM and Resources Impact Award
2026 Winner: Anita Parbhakar-Fox MAusIMM, Klohn Crippen Berger
Anita Parbhakar-Fox has led Australia’s work on the secondary prospectivity of mine waste to identify future critical metals, establishing MIWATCH as a new field of applied geoscientific research focused on generating high-quality pre-competitive data.
She secured AUD$7 million in funding and built a multidisciplinary team to assess 77 mine waste sites for reprocessing and rehabilitation potential. Anita’s work has gained international recognition, with universities seeking her expertise to establish similar programs.
Exceptional Innovation in Mining Award
2026 Winner: BHP
BHP is pioneering the world’s first robotic arm solution designed to potentially eliminate the need for dangerous manual thermal lancing for both smelter tapping and launder cleaning. This innovation combines advanced computer vision, LiDAR and AI technologies to automatically detect and clean buildup around launders. Currently in the trial phase, it promises significant safety improvements and increased production through reduced maintenance shutdowns.
This project is a cross-industry collaboration involving MIRS delivering the robotic arm solution, Worley providing engineering support, BHP Olympic Dam Smelter contributing operational expertise, Trefimet leading lance design, and BHP’s Invent team sponsoring the trial.
2025 Winner: Roy Hill
Roy Hill’s TrackDefectX system leverages their internally-developed AI to automate and continually improve the detection of Rolling Contact Fatigue and other rail defects, significantly reducing derailment risks. This innovation has achieved measurable impacts including $475,000 in annual maintenance savings and a greater than 10% increase in rail lifespan. Its versatile architecture enables future expansion to detect additional track issues,
setting new standards for railway safety worldwide.
Champion of Innovation Award
2026 Winner: Dr Dave Lawie FAusIMM, Chief Geoscientist, IMDEX
Dave is an AusIMM Fellow and highly respected leader in mining technology and geoscience who has made a sustained contribution to innovation over many years, as well as a proven ability to translate scientific excellence into practical, industry-wide impact.
As co-founder of ioGlobal, Dave pioneered new approaches to managing and analysing complex geoscientific datasets. Following IMDEX’s acquisition of ioGlobal, Dave has continued to scale these innovations into globally deployed technologies, driving improved exploration outcomes and stronger decision-making across mining.
Through his influence across industry, research and academia, Dave has played a critical role in shaping the future direction of geoscience and mining innovation.
2025 Winner: Dr John Russell MAusIMM, Founder & Executive Chair, Russell Mineral Equipment
Dr John Russell is a true champion of innovation who has revolutionised concentrator maintenance worldwide. He founded Russell Mineral Equipment based in Toowoomba QLD some 40 years ago and has built a world-leading company which operates in 64 countries, with 12 international Sales and Service Centres, employing more than 450 people worldwide. There are more than 440 mine sites across the planet served by RME’s equipment and services, including more than 570 Russell Mill Relining Machines. John’s story is one of persistent innovation and enduring commitment to his employees, his customers and the planet. He has been recognised through numerous industry awards and is a true trailblazer through his inspiration bold, visionary thinking.