Diversified mining company BHP’s Adam Lancey has called on the industry to “seek better ways” and embrace unconventional thinking, warning that it risks falling behind as technological innovation in other sectors accelerates beyond traditional practices.

Speaking at an industry event in Brisbane this week, Lancey, who is asset president of BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), painted a picture of a rapidly transforming world where mining must keep pace.

He cited the autonomous cars of Waymo, developed by Google, and tech giant Amazon, as examples of how cutting-edge technology, when matched with the right problems, could deliver transformational outcomes.

“Sense. Solve. Go,” Lancey recalled from his experience with Waymo’s autonomous vehicles on a trip to the US. “When I heard this approach, I couldn’t help but make the parallel to one of our own values at BMA. Which is also three simple words: Seek. Better. Ways.”

"The idea behind this is that when we listen to learn, and inspire challenge, we can drive progress. It is why we seek better ways," he explained.

Lancey said emerging technologies behind self-drive and data processing were adaptable to mining – from trucks to trains to diggers and planning. However, the adaption of new technologies or ideas was seldom plug-and-play in mining. "In mining, if you want to innovate you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty."

He stressed that the mining industry would need to work faster and smarter if it was to bridge future supply gaps.

While mining has long prized scale – “bigger tyres, bigger trucks” – Lancey cautioned that the sector is hitting physical limits and must now look elsewhere for performance improvements. “Don’t get me wrong, I love a big truck – but bigger is not always better,” he said.

He pointed to Amazon’s randomised warehousing as another example of reimagining the fundamentals of how work got done. "Through their [Amazon's] latest deployment of technology, they have determined that warehousing can be completely randomised in order to deliver safe and productive parts management. They have combined the receival and picking function - and this is in an environment where they are moving over one-million items a day."

"The solutions are out there… and we know – I know – we have the problems that need solving. We just need to get better at bringing the two together."

INNOVATION AND PARTNERSHIPS
At BHP, Lancey highlighted the Goonyella Riverside mine as a flagship for large-scale automation. With more than 65 autonomous trucks, the site is one of the world’s biggest fully autonomous opencut coal operations.

“Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean less work or jobs. It means re-skilling, training, preparing a future-ready workforce,” he said.

Lancey also pointed out that there was a need for deeper collaboration across sectors and with government. “Working together as an industry is not enough,” he said. “We need to work in partnership… and earn [stakeholder] support for changes such as investing in technology and strategic infrastructure… and streamlining permits.”

The BHP executive reaffirmed the importance of Queensland’s resources, noting that 40% of the world’s steelmaking coal came from the state. In 2024, BMA alone contributed more than A$8-billion to suppliers, A$4-billion to the state government, and supported over 9 500 workers.

Lancey warned that investment was being threatened by policies, notably Queensland’s royalty regime. “We have one of the world’s highest coal royalty rates imposed by the previous Queensland government which makes it very challenging to justify future investment in this state.”

He said Queensland’s resources sector could be “what Silicon Valley is to Northern California – a source of pride and prosperity. But we need to be competitive to unlock that potential.”

He also flagged the work of BHP’s Think & Act Differently (TAD) team, led by Katie Hulmes, as an example of mining innovation driven by cross-sector thinking. TAD is adapting oil and gas technologies such as 3D seismic survey techniques to mineral exploration, accelerating resource discovery while reducing environmental impact.