Australia has historically been a world leader in mining innovations. This trend is reflected in the international patent records, which show that in recent years there has been some recovery in the number of patent filings arising from Australian research. These innovations occur across a wide cross-section of mining technologies and derive from both public and private sector research._x000D_
Australian mining innovations are largely dominated by new processes and equipment, principally in the areas of rock drilling and coring, strata stabilisation, cutting tools, blasting, mine design and oil field exploitation._x000D_
They include improvements in drill bits, rock bolts and accessories and wellbore systems. Another area that has received significant research attention has been the in situ thermal processing of coal deposits. High profile examples of Australian mining innovations include the SORDMiner', a remote-controlled mining machine for use in mining collapsing wet environments, and CSIRO's SMART*CUT rock cutting pick that dramatically increases the rate of cutting hard rock._x000D_
This paper will provide an overview of recent innovations in Australian mining, as reflected in the international patent records, including the organisations and individuals active in the field, and the technological nature of specific innovations._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:Hedges, M M, 2008. Australian innovations in mining, in Proceedings First International Future Mining Conference and Exhibition 2008, pp 131-134 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).