Will AI Really Take Mining Jobs?
The Australian Story Suggests Otherwise.
When people hear the words artificial intelligence and automation, one concern often comes up first: what happens to our jobs?
In mining, that concern is understandable. Autonomous trucks, remotely operated machinery and AI-powered systems are becoming part of modern mine sites. It is easy to look at a truck driving without someone behind the wheel and assume technology must mean fewer people and fewer jobs.
But what is happening across Australian mining tells a more interesting story. AI and automation will change some mining jobs and reduce the need for certain repetitive tasks. At the same time, they are creating different roles, changing the skills mining companies need and allowing people to work in safer and more flexible ways.
Jobs and Skills Australia has looked at the potential impact of AI across the Australian workforce and found that AI is more likely to support and enhance people’s work than replace it entirely. It also expects new jobs to emerge and existing jobs to change as the technology develops.
Australian mining is already showing us what this change could look like.
FROM THE MINE SITE TO THE CONTROL ROOM
One of the clearest examples is Rio Tinto’s use of autonomous mining technology in Western Australia.
Rio Tinto’s Operations Centre in Perth allows teams to help manage parts of its Pilbara mining network from around 1,500 kilometres away. Autonomous trucks and other equipment may operate without a person physically sitting behind the controls, but people are still very much part of the operation.
The work has moved. Instead of every employee needing to operate equipment directly on a remote mine site, people are needed to monitor autonomous equipment, manage operations, respond when something goes wrong and make decisions based on the information coming back from the mine.
This is an important part of the AI employment story. When technology takes over a task, it doesn’t necessarily remove the person. In many cases, it changes what that person does.
NEW SKILLS CREATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES
We can see another side of this change at Fortescue.
As the company introduced autonomous haulage across its operations, it also introduced retraining and redeployment programs for employees affected by the technology. Workers were given opportunities to learn new skills and move into different positions rather than simply being replaced by automation.
This is where AI could have one of its biggest impacts on the Australian mining workforce. The industry will still need operators, engineers, tradespeople and people with years of practical mining experience. Increasingly, however, it will also need people who understand automation, data, software, communications and digital systems.
Importantly, these do not always need to be completely different people. An experienced mining employee already understands how a mine operates. Giving that person new digital skills can create a valuable combination of practical knowledge and technology experience.
This creates opportunities for training and career development within the existing workforce, as well as completely new career paths for people entering the industry.
MAKING MINING SAFER
Perhaps one of the strongest arguments for automation is its ability to remove people from dangerous or physically demanding environments.
Thiess provides a good Australian example. Working with WesTrac and Caterpillar at a mining operation in New South Wales, Thiess introduced autonomous drilling technology that allowed a single operator to remotely manage three drill rigs.
Instead of sitting inside the machinery, the operator could work from a remote operating station. The project was introduced gradually so employees could learn how the technology worked before moving to remote operation.
It also delivered an important safety benefit by taking operators away from higher-risk areas around the drilling equipment.
This is technology doing something we should want it to do: taking the person away from the risk rather than simply taking the person away from the job.
AI CAN HELP PEOPLE MAKE BETTER DECISIONS
Not every use of AI in mining involves a giant autonomous machine.
Modern mining operations generate huge amounts of information every day. Equipment performance, maintenance records, safety information, production figures, workforce availability and operational data all need to be understood.
No person can constantly monitor every piece of that information. AI can help by finding patterns, identifying potential problems and putting useful information in front of employees more quickly. It could help identify equipment that may need attention, highlight unusual operating conditions or make important information easier for managers and frontline teams to access.
But the technology still needs people.
AI might identify that something has changed. An experienced employee understands why that change matters, what is happening around it and what action should be taken. The technology processes information quickly. The person provides experience, context and judgement.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF MINING WORKFORCE
Technology could also change who considers a career in mining.
Traditionally, many mining roles have required employees to spend long periods at remote sites. FIFO remains an important part of Australian mining, but it does not suit everyone.
As more work can be monitored and managed remotely, some mining roles can increasingly be performed from operations centres rather than entirely on site. This could make the industry accessible to people who may previously have ruled out mining because of the lifestyle.
It also creates career opportunities for people with backgrounds in technology, data, communications, software and systems management who might never have thought of themselves as mining workers.
The mining workforce of the future could therefore be much broader than the workforce of the past.
AI NEEDS INFRASTRUCTURE, AND INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS PEOPLE
There is another part of the AI employment story that is often overlooked. AI does not operate on its own.
The more mining companies rely on AI, automation, data and connected technology, the more supporting infrastructure they will need. AI systems require computing capacity, reliable communications and significant amounts of reliable power.
That means investment will not stop with the technology itself.
Data centres, power generation, transmission infrastructure, battery storage, renewable energy projects and communications networks could all form part of an increasingly digital mining industry.
And all of that needs people.
Engineers are needed to plan and design the infrastructure. Construction teams and trades are needed to build it. Electricians and technicians are needed to install and maintain equipment. Environmental specialists are needed to assess and manage the impact of new energy and infrastructure projects. Renewable energy projects require expertise in solar, wind, batteries, transmission and energy management.
This is particularly relevant in Australia, where many mining operations are located in remote areas. A mine cannot simply assume that the power, communications and digital infrastructure needed to support increasingly sophisticated technology already exists.
As mining companies invest in automation, electrification and AI, they also need to consider where the additional power and digital capacity will come from and how that infrastructure will be built and maintained.
This means the employment impact of AI in mining extends well beyond the mine gate. Growth in AI could support demand across a much wider supply chain, including energy, engineering, construction, environmental management, telecommunications and technology.
The workforce supporting the mine of the future may therefore be considerably broader than the workforce we traditionally think of as “mining”.
WHAT HAPPENS TO TRADITIONAL MINING JOBS?
We also need to be realistic. AI and automation will affect some jobs.
If an autonomous system allows several machines to be managed by one person, it would be misleading to pretend that every existing task will remain. Some roles will become smaller, some will change significantly and some tasks may disappear altogether.
But a task disappearing is not the same as an entire workforce disappearing.
Technology creates other work around it. Autonomous equipment needs to be installed, monitored, maintained and repaired. Digital systems need to be managed. Employees need to be trained. Data needs to be understood. Cybersecurity becomes more important. Technology needs to be connected with existing business systems, and people need access to the right information wherever they are working.
Then there is the much wider infrastructure required to support all of this.
The challenge for mining companies is to make sure their people can move with that change.
TRAINING NEEDS TO HAPPEN ALONGSIDE TECHNOLOGY
This may be the most important part of the conversation.
A mining company cannot simply introduce AI and expect its workforce to adapt overnight. If technology changes the job, training needs to change with it.
Mining businesses need to look at the people they already have and ask how their skills can develop. An experienced operator could become an autonomous systems controller. A tradesperson could specialise in maintaining automated equipment. Someone with strong operational knowledge could move into technology implementation, training or support.
At the same time, younger people entering mining will need a mixture of traditional and digital skills.
The future mining workforce is unlikely to be divided neatly between “technology people” and “mining people”. Increasingly, the industry will need people who understand both.
SO, WILL AI CREATE MORE MINING JOBS?
It is too early to say that AI will simply increase the total number of jobs in Australian mining. Some tasks will require fewer people, and some roles will change significantly.
But there is good reason to be positive about what AI could mean for employment across mining and the industries that support it.
AI can create new types of jobs. It can give existing employees new career paths. It can remove people from dangerous environments. It can make some mining careers less dependent on working remotely. It can give employees better information to make better decisions.
And its impact does not end at the mine gate.
The infrastructure needed to power and support AI creates another layer of opportunity across engineering, construction, energy, environmental services, telecommunications, technology and skilled trades.
The Australian experience is already showing that automation does not have to mean simply replacing people. It can mean retraining them, moving them into safer environments, giving them different responsibilities and creating demand for entirely new skills.
The conversation therefore needs to move beyond the simple question of whether AI will “take our jobs”.
A better question is: how can we use AI to create a safer, more skilled, more productive and better connected mining workforce?
At TOKN Technology, we believe technology delivers the most value when it helps people work better. As AI becomes a bigger part of mining, the companies that get the most from it will be those that invest in their people and the infrastructure around them, as well as the technology itself.
The future of mining isn’t people versus technology.
It’s people working better with technology.
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