Mining has long been one of the pillars of the Australian economy. But behind every open-cut mine, underground operation, processing plant and port facility sits another critical sector: the manufacturers that design, build, repair and improve the equipment that keeps the industry moving.

**This story originally appeared in the July 2026 edition of AMT Magazine**

For Australian manufacturing technology suppliers, mining is not only a customer market. It is a demanding test bed for engineering capability. The sector requires heavy fabrication, precision machining, hydraulics, wear components, automation, robotics, materials handling systems, sensing, control systems, safety technology and increasingly sophisticated digital tools. In many cases, mining has helped Australian manufacturers become world-class by forcing them to solve difficult problems in harsh environments.

The scale of the opportunity remains substantial. The Department of Industry’s December 2025 Resources and Energy Quarterly forecast Australia’s resources and energy export earnings at $383 billion in 2025–26 and $374 billion in 2026–27. Export volumes are expected to remain robust and rise close to record levels in 2027, even as some commodity prices soften.

Iron ore is expected to remain Australia’s largest resources earner, accounting for about one-quarter of export earnings over the next two years, while gold earnings are forecast to reach $69 billion in 2025–26 and $74 billion in 2026–27.

This is a large, active and capital-intensive industry. According to the latest available Austmine National Survey, mining equipment, technology and services (the METS sector) generated $114 billion in revenue in 2020, with two-thirds of companies exporting $17 billion in goods and services.

More recent investment data shows the underlying demand environment remains substantial: the Australian Government’s Office of the Chief Economist’s most recent Resources and Energy Quarterly reported that Australia’s resources and energy industries invested $13.7 billion in the September 2025 quarter, up 5% year-on-year, while total mining industry investment is expected to rise modestly to around $55 billion in 2025–26.

For manufacturers, those numbers translate into real demand: conveyors, crushers, screens, pumps, mobile plant components, fabrication, wear liners, valves, fasteners, electrical enclosures, lifting equipment, monitoring systems and specialist tooling.

Mining operations run continuously, often in remote locations, and downtime can be extremely expensive. Suppliers that can improve reliability, reduce maintenance time, extend component life or improve worker safety are solving problems that have direct commercial value.

A Cyclical Environment

The mining market, however, is never static. ABS data for 2023–24 shows the mining industry recorded the largest fall in operating profit before tax among selected industries, down $66.7 billion, or 27.4%, while mining earnings declined $42.4 billion, or 15.4%. That does not remove the long-term opportunity, but it highlights the cyclical environment in which mining manufacturers operate. Commodity prices, global demand, energy costs, project timing and capital discipline all affect purchasing decisions.

That volatility shapes what miners want from suppliers. They are not simply looking for equipment; they are looking for lower total cost of ownership. A locally manufactured solution that costs more upfront may still win if it reduces shutdown time, improves availability, lowers energy use, reduces labour intensity, improves safety or avoids the risk of importing critical parts during a disruption.

Western Australia illustrates the scale of the industrial ecosystem. In 2024–25, WA’s mining industry supported 134,009 on-site full-time equivalent positions, with iron ore employing 65,496 FTEs and gold 35,672 FTEs. WA’s mining and petroleum industries recorded $33 billion in investment in 2024–25, while projects under construction and committed were valued at an estimated $49 billion as of September 2025. Medium and longer-term projects were valued at an estimated $122 billion.

There are plenty of opportunities well beyond Western Australia though. Queensland coal and gas, South Australian copper and uranium, New South Wales coal and critical minerals, Tasmanian mineral processing, and emerging rare earths and battery mineral projects all need advanced manufacturing support.

Much of that work sits in areas where Australian suppliers have established strengths: custom engineering, short-run production, repair and overhaul, rapid response, niche design and integration.

Critical Minerals

Critical minerals are adding a new dimension. According to Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2025, released by Geoscience Australia, Australia remained the world’s leading producer of lithium in 2024, although its share of global production fell from 51% to 43% as global output expanded more quickly.

Australia was a top-five global supplier of 14 mineral commodities in 2024, including cobalt, lithium, manganese ore, rare earths, rutile, uranium and zircon. Production also increased across several critical minerals and strategic materials, including tantalum, lithium, rutile and rare earth elements.

The Australian Government has identified critical minerals processing as a priority under the Future Made in Australia Investment Framework, with measures including a $7 billion Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive, a $566.1 million Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity initiative and $10.2 million to investigate common-user processing facilities.

For the manufacturing industry, the critical minerals opportunity is not limited to mine development. The bigger prize may be in moving further down the value chain: mineral processing equipment, refining plant components, high-purity materials, battery supply chain inputs, environmental systems, automation, laboratory equipment, filtration, separation technologies and plant maintenance. If Australia wants more downstream processing, it will also need more industrial capability around those projects.

The Department of Industry, Science and Resources forecasts critical minerals exports to increase from around $11 billion in 2024–25 to $14 billion in 2026–27, while lithium earnings are forecast to recover from $4.8 billion in 2024–25 to $6.8 billion in 2026–27. Those figures remain relatively small compared with iron ore, but they point to a market that is strategically important and likely to require higher levels of technical specialisation.

Government policy is also pushing in this direction. The Future Made in Australia agenda commits $22.7 billion over the decade to build a stronger and more resilient economy, maximise opportunities from the net zero transition and secure Australia’s place in a changing global environment. For manufacturers supplying mining, this policy environment matters because it encourages investment in sovereign capability, local processing, clean energy supply chains and industrial resilience.

Improving Productivity and Reducing Emissions

At the same time, the mining sector is under pressure to improve productivity and reduce emissions. That is creating demand for technologies that help mines operate more efficiently: automation, electrification, advanced sensing, remote operations, fuel monitoring, predictive maintenance, digital twins, robotic inspection and safer maintenance tools.

Manufacturers that can combine physical products with data, software or service models are likely to be better placed than those selling components alone.

This is where the boundary between manufacturing and METS is becoming less clear. A company may fabricate a chute, machine a precision component, build a hydraulic tensioning system or design a feeder, but increasingly it may also provide monitoring, installation support, refurbishment, data insights or lifecycle services. In mining, product reliability and service responsiveness are often as important as the original equipment itself.

Skills remain a major constraint. The Minerals Council of Australia reports that mining employed about 290,100 people in 2024–25 and supported around 11,000 apprentices, with many more jobs linked through supply chains.

Manufacturing suppliers face the same pressure: shortages of machinists, welders, fitters, engineers, automation specialists and technicians. The companies that invest in apprenticeships, cross-training, digital capability and safer, more attractive workplaces will be better positioned to support mining customers.

The other challenge is scale. Australian manufacturers are often excellent at customisation, innovation and problem-solving, but mining customers may require national service coverage, documentation, quality assurance, safety systems, traceability and the ability to support large fleets or multiple sites. For smaller suppliers, partnerships with OEMs, larger integrators or regional service networks can be essential.

Despite these challenges, Australian manufacturers have a strong value proposition. They understand local mining conditions. They can work closely with customers. They can respond quickly to breakdowns and shutdown windows. They can design for specific ore bodies, climates, maintenance practices and site constraints. They can also offer sovereign resilience in a market where long international supply chains remain vulnerable.

The future of manufacturing for mining in Australia will not be defined by volume alone. It will be defined by capability: the ability to deliver equipment and technology that improves safety, productivity, sustainability and reliability. The strongest opportunities will sit where manufacturing expertise meets mine-site problem-solving.