For his keynote speech at the Resources Technology Showcase in Perth, WA today, Mike Henry, soon to be the next BHP CEO, gave an interesting insight into the company’s relationship with technology, the METS sector and applying innovations and learnings from other industries. He opened by saying: “It’s only been a fortnight since it was announced that I will be afforded the immense privilege to lead BHP as its next CEO come January 1. Of course I’ve had a number of questions since about my priorities. And my answer has been pretty consistent. Our highest order priorities remain the same but I want to spend the next six weeks getting out to BHP’s operations and offices globally to discuss views on what we can do to build upon the great work of recent years to become safer, more productive, and more valuable, more quickly. On the theme of this conference though, I have been specific. Technology is critical to this industry. Technology will do everything I just said. It will help us lift performance. Make us safer. Reduce costs. Grow value.”
The first operation he visited on this tour was the Jimblebar mine, last week. This is where BHP established its first fully autonomous haulage system back in 2017. “Jimblebar is a great reminder for me of the opportunities provided by technology – we have significantly reduced incidents with fatal potential and we have reduced costs. I have also spent time in the past week here in Perth and up in Singapore, including with our Technology teams. It was uplifting to hear from them the opportunities they see for the future to make this industry even safer, more productive and more competitive.”
On agreeing to speak at the event in Perth, he focussed on the immense importance of WA to BHP – with three major BHP businesses located there: iron ore, oil and gas and nickel – but also the potential to work with local METS suppliers: “And finally, the importance I place on more effective partnering with the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) sector. I believe that through more effective partnering between producers and the METS sector, we can both uplift performance in our business and we can enable local METS companies to develop new products and services that allow them to thrive and compete on the global stage.”
On innovation he states: “As an industry we are leading innovation from right here in WA. There is perhaps no greater concentration of skilled mining and oil and gas professionals in the world, than in this state. Ideas are brought to life in world-class orebodies and petroleum basins that sit side-by-side. The potential to share ideas and promote innovation is profound. Already within our Australian minerals business we are using seismic technology from Petroleum to better understand our coal resources, produce better mine plans, reduce costs and mitigate risks. We are using some of the safety practices being adopted in our offshore Petroleum operations to inform how we can keep people safer in our onshore mining operations, including here in WA.”
Just last year, BHP reached out and sought support from Woodside Petroleum and Deakin University to help solve for a safety issue it was dealing with underground in one of its nickel mines down south. “We had a valve under pressure that needed to be removed, but the risks were such that we couldn’t introduce people to the area. Woodside and Deakin lent us the robots and expertise that enabled us to resolve the issue with people operating remotely. This is a great example of the sort of opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing between sectors that is easier here in WA than perhaps anywhere else in the world. WA has the opportunity to cement a place as the world epicentre of resource technology and innovation. Whether it’s automated haulage, robotics, drones, big data or artificial intelligence – we are changing the way we work. We are enabling our people with the capability, data and technology to innovate and improve. Today technology has helped to make us safer, more predictable and more focused than ever before. However, there is potential is so much greater. The opportunities abound.”
Moving on to how it stays at the forefront of the global mining industry and value creation, Henry says BHP must be being able to innovate and apply technology better than others. “This is a significant focus at BHP. This will enable us to keep our people safe, reduce costs, improve reliability, and increase our capital efficiency. It will enable us to reduce our impact on the environment and it will give rise to more fulfilling jobs. A more sustainable, more competitive and more attractive industry. You only have to cast your eyes up north to BHP’s Innovation Centre at Eastern Ridge to see what’s being made possible through technology. This is BHP’s testing centre – our proving ground for new technologies that we then export all over the world to BHP’s global operations, from right here in WA. We already have some good, new products coming out of the Centre that are making our operations more productive. For example, we have created an industrial ‘internet-of-things’ sensor gateway. This reliably and securely collects data from sensors on BHP mobile equipment such as trucks and vehicles, and fixed-plant equipment such as drills and conveyors. A different team then built a tool to exploit the rich data that comes from this gateway, to make maintenance safer and more efficient. This is done by giving our maintainers live equipment diagnostics via a tablet or smartphone. It keeps them away from running equipment which is dangerous, and takes any guess work out of maintenance. What encourages me most aside from the great operational outcomes is it only took our team 16 weeks to go from concept to first prototype of the tool. This is the type of agility resource companies will need to be competitive in the future.”
WA is where BHP launched its first Integrated Remote Operating Centre, where it started autonomous haulage, and where it first rolled out autonomous blast hole drills. “We have since taken these concepts and deployed them into BHP operations around the world.” But in another note to the METS sector he adds that innovation arises not only from BHP people but also from its partners, and not just the global OEMs. “At BHP we’re inviting METS companies into our space to partner with us – including technology start ups. We want to bring the best minds and most entrepreneurial mind-sets to bear on improving performance. For instance, BHP has worked with a local Perth tech start-up on our Acoustic Monitoring system. This system detects anomalies on conveyors and other rotating equipment using real-time, data powered monitoring. It allows us to work smarter, and delivers greater reliability, lower cost and better production. It also leads to safer outcomes for our operators. This is but one example that is a result of collaboration with a METS company – a sector that will be vital to the future of resources and the future of this state. The ingenuity and entrepreneurial energy that exists in the METS sector holds such potential for not only companies like BHP, but for the economy and state more broadly.”
