GRX25 is set to champion innovation and collaboration on the global stage.
The 2025 Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX25) has undergone a transition that has made it bigger and better than ever before.
Previously known as the Austmine Conference, GRX25 is now proudly hosted by Austmine in partnership with AusIMM and is set to continue its legacy as one of the sector’s leading industry innovation events.
An expo ‘by industry, for industry’, GRX25, which will be held in Brisbane from May 20–22, 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 the event has evolved.
“[The term] ‘mining innovation’ was somewhat of an oxymoron 20 years ago,” she said.
Image: Austmine
“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. Now, innovation is discussed in every boardroom.
“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.”
The event will become an annual fixture on the industry’s calendar from 2025, with the name change reflecting its larger international audience.
“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’, which Gibbs Stewart said symbolises the sector’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.”
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,” Gibbs 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’.”
Image: Austmine
The GRX25 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,” Gibbs 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.”
GRX25 will host an Industry Leaders and Awards Dinner, where excellence in innovation will be celebrated with the presentation of five awards:
- Craig Senger Excellence in Export award (supported by Austrade)
- Outstanding Innovative METS Company award
- Exceptional Innovation in Mining award
- Champion of Innovation award
- Excellence in Resources by a New Professional award
With 150 exhibitors locked in and a plethora of networking opportunities on hand, GRX25 will be one for the record books.
GRX25 will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 20–22.
This feature appeared in the April–May 2025 issue of PNG Mining.
