Search Please enter a search term.

Brisbane - Australia's new world cityBrisbane - Australia's new world city

Photo

Invest in Brisbane

Mining Technology & Services

The Australian mining industry is global in its outlook, innovative and highly successful – and Brisbane is renowned as an international centre of excellence in the field of mining technology and services (MTS). Nearly 200 mining companies are currently based in Greater Brisbane. This forms a cluster that represents almost two thirds of the sector in resource-rich Queensland, and underpins the demands of much of Australia and many parts of the world.

Driven by the industry’s commitment to greater research and development infrastructure, there is strong government collaboration and investment and an increased focus on education and developing a skilled workforce. This combines to create an industry capable of delivering an array of innovative technologies and expertise to the global market.

The majority of the MTS firms in Brisbane are small to medium enterprises with a specialised skills base. This highly developed industry cluster consists of producers and service providers in the areas of: mining engineering; mining equipment manufacturing; mine and resource management (including coal and water); commodity transportation; remote positioning; environmentally-sensitive mining/drilling; geotech exploration; and health and safety initiatives.

Queensland is a world leader in mining technology. Sixty per cent of all mining software used globally is developed in Australia – and the world’s leading mining software company, Mincom, is headquartered in Brisbane.

The MTS sector provides and uses world-class expertise and products in a variety of areas, including: technology applications; equipment design and provision; engineering, construction and maintenance services; and contract mining and consultancy services.

Companies in the Brisbane market include:

  • Anglocoal
  • Ausenco – providers of world-class engineering, project management and operations solutions to the global resources and energy sectors. With headquarters in Brisbane, the group has over 2,300 personnel across 20 countries.
  • Bechtel – specialists in engineering, construction and project management. Privately owned with headquarters in San Francisco, Bechtel has 52,700 employees across the globe. Bechtel’s Mining and Minerals business unit is headquartered in Brisbane.
  • BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance
  • Downer EDI Mining – a division of the Downer EDI Group and an Australian top-100 company listed on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) which has assets of $3 billion, annual turnover of $5.6 million and over 24,000 employees.
  • Groundprobe
  • Mincom – with its headquarters in Brisbane, Mincom is the leading software and specialist-services provider in the global mining industry. 
  • Peabody Pacific
  • Rio Tinto Aluminium – in 2008 the company moved all its research and development activities from Melbourne to Brisbane. The consolidation resulted in a greater pooling of resources and greater collaboration of potentially ground-breaking research.
  • Xstrata


Mining-Services-Revenue.gif

Competitive advantages

Talent, innovation and excellence

All levels of government are dedicated to the values of innovation and knowledge – in 2008/09, total expenditure on research and development in the mining sector was $4.2 billion (AUD). Brisbane’s world-class universities are home to leading bodies providing innovative technology advancements across the entire research and development supply chain.

Notable mining-focused research and development institutions headquartered in Brisbane include:
  • Centre for Low Emission Technology
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Mining, Exploration and ICT clusters
  • CRC for Coal in Sustainable Development
  • CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies
  • CRC for Sustainable Resources Processing
  • Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, The University of Queensland
  • Parker CRC for Integrated Hydrometallurgy Solutions
  • Queensland Centre of Advanced Technologies
  • Sustainable Minerals Institute
Resources
With its close proximity to some of the world’s largest mineral deposits, many major mining and resource firms have chosen Brisbane as the location for their global, Asia-Pacific or national headquarters.
Strategic economic geography
Brisbane is the most strategically placed capital city to regional mining areas in Queensland and the rest of the Asia-Pacific. Demand from resource-rich nations across the Pacific Rim – from Asia to The Americas – will continue to grow. These nations often employ Brisbane’s capabilities across the MTS sector.
Economic resilience
The mining and mineral processing industry has directly contributed over $500 billion (AUD) to Australia’s wealth over the past 20 years. Export earnings of minerals, oil and gas from the Australian resources sector is expected to rise 17.4 per cent from 2009/10 to $122.3 billion (AUD) in 2010/11, while in 2009/10, Queensland had mineral and fuel exports of $23.5 billion (AUD), contributing 45 per cent of Queensland’s total exports. This is reflected in our financial markets. The resources sector currently represents over 20 per cent of the ASX by capitalisation and almost one third of the companies listed.
Mobilised industry
Brisbane represents the home of the most organised and well-resourced mining industry bodies in Australia. Notable mining industry bodies in Brisbane include:
  • Queensland Resources Council – a not-for-profit peak industry association representing Queensland’s minerals and energy sector. Its primary role is to support the long-term sustainability of the mining and resources and mining industry in Queensland.
  • Mining and Energy Services Council of Australia (MESCA) – with a membership base of 330 companies, MESCA is headquartered in Brisbane and is committed to creating a dynamic, competitive and unified minerals and energy sector across Australia.
  • Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) – as an attachment to The University of Queensland, the SMI partners with industry to research, test, implement and innovate sustainable development practices.
Future prospects
The Queensland resources industry is expanding to accommodate offshore demand for commodities, particularly coal. Over 200 new projects are currently under consideration throughout the state. There is limited capacity within the current industry to meet all future demands for new/expanded mines and investment into new technologies – meaning increased opportunities for potential investors.
Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious LinkedIn More..
Print Share A A Resize

Case study: Mincom

With its global headquarters located in Brisbane, Mincom has been successfully operating for close to 30 years, and is recognised as the leading software and specialist-services provider to the international mining industry. Mincom employs over 1,200 people in 18 offices around the world spanning Australia, The Americas, South-East Asia, Africa and Europe. Mincom is an unlisted public company, with its biggest shareholders including First State Private Equity and Caterpillar Inc.

The company operates in the computer wholesaling and consultancy industry, specialising in enterprise asset management solutions and services for asset-intensive organisations in mining, utilities, transport, defense and government.

Mincom is renowned for the Mincom Mining Solution package it provides to clients in more than 40 countries, which grants intelligent tools that cover the entire mining operations value chain from the geology of the deposit, through to the delivery of the finished product. Mincom’s collaboration experience has delivered dramatic process improvements and reduced costs for its customers.

It supports customer sites in over 40 countries, with 18 of the world’s 20 largest mining companies having made use of Mincom mining solutions. In early 2007, seeing the value and growth of Mincom’s business, private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired the company for $315 million (AUD). Around this time, Mincom also made a number of strategic acquisitions of its own including:

Conversant – based in Missouri in the United States of America, Conversant extends Mincom’s global footprint, with the management and employees operating as a dedicated global utilities business unit within the entity, focused on utility customer care and billing solutions.

JKTech – a leading Australian mining technology provider and technology transfer company of the world-renowned Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre at The University of Queensland, specialising in metallurgical accounting solution. This acquisition strengthens Mincom’s mining and metallurgical capabilities and software solution offering to the global mining industry.

For all enquiries

Steven Silvester Senior Manager - Investment Attraction