The picks and shovels are getting smart, and the ASX is about to cash in.
The mining industry is experiencing its biggest transformation in a century, with autonomous equipment market value, projected to double by 2026.
Driverless trucks now navigate 24/7 through mining sites, robotic drilling systems extract resources, and digital twins simulate entire operations before a single shovel breaks ground.
McKinsey research indicates AI implementation can reduce drilling expenditures by 20-30% through more targeted exploration approaches.
It shows AI-guided targeting cuts average exploration digging costs from $250/metre to ~$180/m.
McKinsey found that machine learning algorithms can process geological data to identify high-probability mineral zones, eliminating unnecessary excavation in barren areas.
AI systems compress traditional core analysis timeframes from 4-8 weeks down to 48 hours, accelerating decision-making processes.
In such a competitive environment, mining companies deploying AI evaluate more prospects with the same budget, multiplying exploration capacity.
- Australian giants BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue are leading the $478 billion AI mining transformation with autonomous fleets and predictive maintenance
- Exploration costs are vastly reduced, and workplace dynamics shift
The use of AI in American mining was valued at $7.07 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach an astronomical $ 114.90 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 41.69%.
That's 4,000% growth in eight years.
And as one of the world's top mining jurisdictions, Australia looking to lead artificial intelligence integration in the resources sector.
Australia's AI gold rush
By 2025, over 60% of global mining companies will deploy AI-driven automation in core operations.
Automated mining trucks are projected to increase ore extraction efficiency by up to 30%.
AI-powered safety systems lower accident rates in mines by 30% globally, while predictive maintenance has reduced equipment downtime by up to 20%.
Rio Tinto's Mine Automation System fuses data from different vendors to provide a centralised, real-time source of truth.
This allows observation of mine activities and provides analysis and insights for decision-making from anywhere in the world.
Fortescue led the pack with a 5.3% share price increase in April 2025, while Rio Tinto gained 1.4%, and BHP remained flat despite commodity price pressures.
Smaller players are expected to follow as costs decline and the technology matures.
The Australian government has allocated $124.1 million through the Artificial Intelligence Action Plan to establish the National AI Centre.
Evolution of the workplace
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration reported 42 mining fatalities in 2023.
AI is playing an increasingly crucial role in enhancing safety by automating dangerous jobs inside mines.
Wearable sensors monitor mine workers for signs of drowsiness, fatigue, and physical discomfort.
But it's when you eliminate human error from 200-tonne autonomous trucks operating 24/7 that you boost productivity and save lives.
Meeting net-zero targets is expected to require around 700,000 new workers in the critical minerals extraction industry by 2030, an 88% increase from 2022 levels.
Yes, it will replace jobs. But the sector is going to start needing data analysts, AI specialists, remote operations controllers and automation engineers too.
Global mining behemoth Rio Tinto's operations centre in Perth houses a team of 200 controllers and schedulers who manage operations at 14 different mines up to 1,500 kilometres away.
Bulk automation
Iron ore major Fortescue has undertaken one of the largest fleet conversions to autonomous haulage projects, with almost 200 autonomous trucks operating at its Solomon and Chichester hubs in Western Australia's north.
Since 2013, the robotic trucks have travelled over 52 million km and moved 1.5 billion tonnes of material to deliver a 30% increase in productivity.
BHP has the largest fleet of autonomous trucks in operation, with 300 spread across ten mines and has operated a fully-autonomous truck fleet at its Jimblebar mine in Western Australia since 2017.
