Decarbonisation takes centre stage at WA Mining

The WA Mining Exhibition and Conference (WA Mining) will arrive in Perth on 9–10 October, tackling key industry trends including decarbonisation, digitalisation and automation.

With Western Australia’s role as the powerhouse of Australia’s resources sector, embracing technology to further decarbonisation is crucial.

At this year’s event, the highly anticipated return of the Decarbonisation Showcase will spotlight the high-quality solutions driving decarbonisation.

Decarbonisation key players will be assembled in one convenient zone on the exhibition floor, with the following companies exhibiting their energy-efficient technologies and solutions at the Decarbonisation Showcase:

• Allight
• Remote Energy
• SCIG
• Earthtrack Group
• SIGMA Air Conditioning
• Sustainext
• EARTHLOK
• RUBBERGEM

A panel discussion at the highly targeted paid conference will explore shifting the industry’s view of decarbonisation from an obligation to an opportunity. One of the panel participants is Managing Director of Decarbonate, Brendan Tapley.

Tapley said decarbonisation can present unprecedented obstacles for mining organisations, which he looks forward to unpacking during the panel.

“Decarbonisation is a big challenge, and what’s more challenging is that the government is requiring public disclosure on the nature of those risks,” he said.

“For a lot of companies, there’s a learning process to understand how to identify and quantify risk in financial terms, where it comes to climate related risks, both physical and transitional.

“There’s also opportunities; tapping into the growing demand for green, critical minerals.”

Joining Tapley for the panel discussion is MEC Mining’s CEO Christofer Catania, who said viewing decarbonisation as an opportunity comes from understanding what the future holds and working out how the potential of an asset can be shaped.

“Decarbonisation really is a huge opportunity where, if you look at it from the right lens, you can be ahead of your competitors,” he said. “To be first to the table means you can not only control but contribute to the conversation, as opposed to receiving everyone else’s outputs that may not be fit for purpose.

“Having a seat at the table and helping guide that path forward is important for all different areas in the industry. Even as consultants, being able to help influence that conversation in the right direction, allows us to be able to help shape those solutions and have a positive impact on it,” Catania said.

Both Catania and Tapley return to the conference in 2024, with Tapley attributing his interest in thought-leadership and industry-leading conferences as the reason for his return.

“WA Mining is obviously one of the leading conferences and certainly exhibitions in terms of supplier presence in Western Australia. It’s always great to go and check out the supplier stores and see what’s happening in the market.”

Catania echoed Tapley’s sentiment and said without industry events like WA Mining, it’s hard to assemble large groups of people for collaboration.

“The ability to bring all different sources of thought together and have diverse conversations and robust debate allows the industry to come up with solutions that are reasonable and most fit for purpose in the near term.”

Visit waminingexpo.com.au/attend to secure your attendance and lock in the exclusive 20 per cent discount. Don’t miss out – early-bird registration closes 31 August.