Philip Mare
Operational Director,
Metal Management Solutions
Mining companies are investing heavily in AI, automation, and autonomous systems. Yet many deployments fail to scale beyond pilot phases — not because the technology does not work, but because operations are not fully prepared to absorb it.
The challenge is no longer simply acquiring autonomous systems. It is preparing mines, infrastructure, operating models, and workforces to operate safely and effectively in increasingly automated environments.
This Session Explores
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Why autonomous mining projects stall after pilot deployment
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The operational readiness required before autonomy can scale
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How leadership teams align operations, engineering, maintenance, and technology groups
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The role of workforce capability and organisational structure in successful deployment
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Lessons learned from real-world implementation failures and successes
Technical & Strategic Focus:
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Change management in operational environments
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Readiness assessment frameworks
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OT/IT integration maturity
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Workforce transition and operator retraining
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Reliability and operational continuity during deployment
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Governance models for autonomous operations
Learning Objectives:
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Understand the operational barriers to scaling autonomy
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Identify readiness gaps within mining organisations
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Explore how successful operators sequence deployment
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Learn how operational alignment impacts ROI and adoption success
This session moves beyond technology deployment alone to examine the operational reality of autonomy in mining — where success depends not simply on implementing advanced systems, but on aligning infrastructure, workforce capability, operational processes, and organisational readiness to deliver safe, reliable, and scalable mining operations in practice.