Trailblazers, emerging leaders and innovators taking Australia’s mining and METS sector forward were celebrated last night at the prestigious Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX) Industry Awards Dinner, co-hosted by Austmine and AusIMM.

As GRX26’s flagship networking experience, the dinner brought together senior executives, METS innovators, new professionals and international delegates. Winners were announced across six award categories spanning innovation and collaboration, export excellence, professional achievement and industry leadership.

In a joint statement, Austmine CEO Tony Davis and AusIMM CEO Stephen Durkin said “These awards recognise the professionals, innovations and achievements advancing our sector. Our GRX26 finalists embody the thought leadership and ambition the Australian mining and METS industry needs to succeed on the global stage. We warmly congratulate all finalists and winners, and thank them for the leading impact they are making.”

GRX26 Industry Awards Winners

Craig Senger Excellence in Export Award (supported by Austrade): Celebrating the outstanding performance, innovation and impact in developing and sustaining international markets.

Winner: Pitcrew AI

Pitcrew AI has demonstrated strong export growth with increasing international adoption across global mining operations and strategic partnerships in key resource markets. Pitcrew AI has delivered measurable efficiency gains and actionable operational insights, including advanced automation of critical maintenance processes.

Finalists: Don Kyatt Spare Parts, Orway IQ (MillROC), Hawk Measurement Systems, Austin Engineering

Women in STEM and Resources Impact Award (Sponsored by Xtrava Group): Recognising a woman who demonstrates meaningful impact through innovation, leadership or advocacy, creating positive outcomes.

Winner: Anita Parbhakar-Fox MAusIMM, Honorary Professor, UQ; and Technical and Innovation Lead – Geoscience, KCB

Anita has led Australia’s work on the secondary prospectivity of mine waste to identify future critical metals. Anita established MIWATCH, a new area of applied geoscientific research to generate high-quality pre-competitive data. She is a true role model for the next generation of resources and STEM professionals.

Finalists: Kate Flanagan, Jade Singleton, Evelyn Ng

Outstanding Innovative METS Company Award: Recognising a METS organisation that has delivered exceptional innovation with measurable impact across the industry.

Winner: CorePlan

CorePlan is the first digital operations platform built for mining exploration, ending reliance on manual spreadsheets and legacy software. CorePlan validates costs accurately, drives faster decisions, ensures stronger compliance, enabling truly modern mining operations.

Finalists: Talpasolutions GmbH (TALPA), APEX Engineering Technology Group, SafeGauge

Excellence in Resources by a New Professional Award: Highlighting a new professional in the mining or METS sector who has delivered an initiative, project or innovation making a meaningful and positive impact within their organisation.

Winner: Janina Bauer GAusIMM, Graduate Process Engineer, Rio Tinto

Janina’s honours research with Nimy Resources investigated a new pathway to extract gallium from WA primary ore. Her findings have the potential to increase domestic production of critical minerals. 

Finalists: Elyse Bosch AAusIMM(NP), Josephine Liantono AAusIMM(NP), Oliver Quinn AAusIMM(NP)

Exceptional Innovation in Mining Award: Acknowledging outstanding innovation that delivers measurable impact within the mining industry.

Winner: BHP

BHP is pioneering the world’s first robotic arm solution that can potentially eliminate the need for dangerous manual thermal lancing for both smelter tapping and launder cleaning. This project is a cross-industry collaboration involving MIRS, Worley, Trefimet and BHP’s Invent team sponsoring the trial.

Finalists: Fleet Space Technologies, Australian Droid & Robot (ADR), Geographe

Champion of Innovation Award: Recognising an individual’s significant contribution to innovation in the METS sector across the course of their career, selected by an industry peer group committee comprised of innovation experts.

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.