2025 Winners

Last night’s Australian Mining Prospect Awards celebrated the ingenuity, determination and all-round excellence of the country’s resources sector.

The awards are the most esteemed and prestigious program for the mining and minerals processing industry within Australia. As part of AIMEX, the 2025 Prospect Awards were was hosted at the the iconic Adelaide Oval.

With MC Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann helming the occasion, the room was buzzing with excitement about the evening’s proceedings, and with a sense of pride about what the mining industry has achieved and where it is headed.

The sector remains vibrant and innovative, and for more than a decade, the Australian Mining Prospect Awards have been the only national awards program to stop, take a look at what the mining industry is doing, and reward those who are excelling and going above and beyond, recognising and rewarding innovation.

Attendees were not left disappointed. Across 11 categories, there were stories of grit, sparks of genius, and an enduring sense of meeting challenges with creative and collaborative solutions that achieved outstanding results.

Here are the winners of the 2025 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

Discovery of the Year
Sponsored by Australian Resources & Investment

Winner: Alligator Energy’s Big Lake uranium project

Alligator Energy’s Big Lake uranium project represents a significant new discovery in South Australia’s Lake Eyre Basin, marking a major breakthrough in frontier uranium exploration. The company’s inaugural drilling program intersected broad zones of anomalous uranium mineralisation within the Namba Formation’s palaeochannel sands. Follow-up chemical assays have confirmed substantial uranium content, validating initial field findings and highlighting the project’s strong potential.

Engineering Success of the Year
Sponsored by Pump Industry

Winner: Robson Civil Projects – Mt Arthur Coal Rehabilitation & Land Management

Robson Civil Projects has played a pivotal role in the rehabilitation and land management of BHP’s Mt Arthur Coal Mine (MAC) through the LRLM25 contract, delivering one of the most significant progressive rehabilitation programs in NSW. Since 2022, Robson has reshaped and revegetated 297 hectares of land, including a record 145ha in FY24 – the largest single-year achievement at MAC. Works have included bulk earthworks, drainage construction, topsoil amelioration, seeding, weed and pest management, and biodiversity restoration, with over 14,000 seedlings planted in FY24–25.

Excellence in Environmental Management & Sustainability
Sponsored by Quarry

Winner: BHP Yandi Seed Propagation project

As mining operations throughout Australia and the world confront the growing challenge of rehabilitation amid seed scarcity and climate uncertainty, BHP’s Yandi Seed Production Area (SPA) offers a simple template for ecological pragmatism that doesn’t sacrifice ambition. It demonstrates that with thoughtful design and patient implementation, the very industries that have transformed landscapes can become laboratories for ecological innovation.

Excellence in IIoT Application
Sponsored by ifm

Winner: Hancock Iron Ore – TrackDefectX

TrackDefectX (Track Defect Detection) is a cutting-edge technology developed to identify and categorise defects on railway tracks, helping improve safety and lower maintenance expenses through early detection. Making use of sophisticated image processing and deep learning algorithms, the system examines track imagery to spot a range of defect types, including squats, spalling, and gauge corner checking.

Excellence in Mine Safety, OH&S
Sponsored by Safe to Work

Winner: Hancock Iron Ore – Brilliant at the Basics

Brilliant at the Basics (B@TB) is Hancock Iron Ore’s flagship health and safety initiative that launched in July 2024. It is built on a simple yet powerful principle that consistently executing the fundamental safety routines to the highest possible standard is the foundation for achieving exceptional safety outcomes. Rather than focusing solely on rules or procedures, B@TB brings together critical safety processes, leadership behaviours, and a values-based approach to embed a genuine culture of care across all levels of the business.

First Nations Engagement Award
Sponsored by Sandvik

Winner: Rio Tinto – Aboriginal Training and Liaison (ATAL) Program

The ATAL Program is a groundbreaking employment readiness initiative co-designed by Rio Tinto and Traditional Owner groups across WA. Relaunched in 2023, it shifts Indigenous engagement from transactional to transformational, centring cultural integrity, community leadership, and long-term impact. ATAL’s three-phase model – community-based learning, on-site experience and post-placement support – empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to build confidence, skills, and sustainable careers.

Innovative Mining Solution
Sponsored by Mining

Winner: Dredge Robotics – Zero Entry Robotic Dredging System

Dredge Robotics is redefining water asset maintenance in the mining sector with its no entry Robotic Dredging System, a remotely operated solution that eliminates the need for manual or confined space entry when cleaning mine site ponds, tanks and tailings facilities. Developed in Australia, this innovative technology enables mining operations to remove high-risk, high-cost maintenance shutdowns and maintain productivity while improving safety outcomes.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by Australian Mining

Winner: Craig Pedley, CEO at MAX Plant and Striker

Craig Pedley’s journey from apprentice fitter in 1984 to founder of a globally respected crushing and screening manufacturing equipment business (Striker) as well as mineral processing projects business (MAX Plant) is nothing short of extraordinary. For over four decades, Pedley has not only mastered every facet of the industry – design, procurement, fabrication, commissioning and support – but has redefined what leadership and innovation look like in the field. In 1998, he took a risk on his vision to build equipment shaped by the voices of those who use it. Twenty-seven years later, his business is a testament to that promise.

Outstanding Mine Performance
Sponsored by Bonfiglioli

Winner: Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine

The installation of a new Sandvik crushing and screening plant at Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine in Western Australia has set a new standard for operational excellence. Purpose-built to meet the site’s production and safety needs, the plant is delivering greater efficiency, increased throughput, and improved safety outcomes.

Safety Advocate of the Year
Sponsored by Fortescue

Winner: Dale Harris, chief operating officer at Hancock Iron Ore

Demonstrating authentic concern for the wellbeing of others and a commitment to workplace safety through strong leadership are defining aspects of Dale Harris’s approach to safety management. As chief operating officer at Hancock Iron Ore, Harris advances safety culture by championing initiatives such as the ‘My Commitment’, ‘Brilliant at the Basics’, and ‘Safer Summer’ campaign.

Australian Mine of the Year
Sponsored by SEW-EURODRIVE

Winner: Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine

Faced with an expansion into a third underground source at their Agnew gold mine, Gold Fields needed to increase plant throughput. The 21-year-old tertiary crushing circuit, which was suffering from poor reliability, was unable to meet the demand. Gold Fields teamed up with Sandvik to implement an innovative new plant.