Most technology vendors understand the software. Most consultants understand the process. Neither of them understands your ore body or operations.
Technology decisions in mining are high-stakes and hard to reverse. A fleet management system, an ore tracking platform, an AI-driven maintenance tool, commit to the wrong one and you're carrying the cost for years. Commit to the right one badly and it never gets adopted.
The missing ingredient in most mining technology decisions isn't more vendor options. It's someone who can evaluate the technology against how your operation actually works, from the geology up.
That's what we bring.
The Problem We Solve
Mining operators are being sold technology constantly. Vendors are well-resourced, well-prepared, and commercially motivated. The people evaluating them are usually operational leaders with full schedules and limited time to assess whether the vendor's claims hold up against the reality of their specific deposit, fleet, and workflow.
The result is predictable. Technology gets purchased on the strength of a demo. It gets implemented by a team that doesn't understand the operation. It doesn't get adopted by the people who were never brought along. And the ROI that was promised in the business case never materialises.
We've seen this from the inside. We've also seen what it looks like when it works. The difference is almost always in the quality of the evaluation and the rigor of the delivery, not the technology itself.
What We Do
Technology Scoping & Vendor Shortlist
The starting point for any significant technology decision. We define your requirements from the operational reality up, scan the vendor market, and deliver a shortlist with a scored evaluation framework you can use to drive the selection process.
Vendor-neutral. No commissions. No preferred suppliers.
From $15,000 ex GST. Typically 3–8 days of work
01 - Technology Scoping & Vendor Shortlist
For decisions where the stakes are high enough to warrant rigour.
We run the full evaluation, requirements definition, vendor engagement, structured assessment, reference checks, business case development, and implementation planning.
We give you a recommendation you can defend to your board, backed by the same analytical framework used to deliver $90M+ USD in digital outcomes at Rio Tinto Iron Ore.
Typically 6–14 weeks enguagment.
02 - Full Technology Evaluation & Selection Advisory
Buying the right technology is half the problem. Getting it to land in the operation is the other half.
We provide program leadership, agile delivery frameworks, and change management for technology implementation, ensuring the investment translates into operational outcome rather than shelfware.
Built directly on experience as Product Owner for Rio Tinto's Digital Delivery Framework, one of the most complex digital governance structures in Australian mining.
Retainer support available
03 - Digital Delivery Governance
For operations where the data exists but isn't connected to the decisions.
We work across ore tracking systems, fleet management platforms, processing control systems, and business intelligence tools, identifying where integration would unlock value and governing the delivery of that integration.
04 - Operational Technology Integration
An independent assessment of a technology already in your operation or under consideration.
We evaluate it against your specific operational context and give you an honest view, whether that's a green light, a red flag, or a list of conditions that need to be met before commitment.
Fixed fee from $12,000 ex GST.
05 - Vendor-Neutral Technology Review
Technology investment decisions increasingly need to demonstrate ESG return alongside operational return.
We build that into the evaluation and business case from day one, energy consumption, emissions reduction potential, water management, and rehabilitation monitoring capability.
Because your financiers and joint venture partners are already asking for it, and the technology you choose either helps you answer that question or doesn't.
We've integrated machine learning monitoring systems for mine rehabilitation and closure, giving operators real ESG data less than the traditional field cost. That experience informs every technology evaluation we run.
The ESG Thread
The Geoscience Difference
Technology recommendations in mining that aren't grounded in how ore bodies actually behave, how grade variability affects process performance, how geological structure influences equipment selection, how deposit geometry shapes the data you need, are incomplete at best and expensive at worst.
We're the only WA advisory that combines chartered geoscience depth with digital delivery experience at major miner scale. That combination changes the quality of the recommendation in ways that matter when the decision is a $2–5M technology commitment
What Makes This Different
Vendor-neutral technology advisory is only as valuable as the operational credibility behind it.
Anyone can read a vendor spec sheet. What's rare is someone who has built and owned a digital delivery framework inside a major iron ore operation, who has seen which technologies survive contact with a real mining environment and which don't.
That's the lens every Ideae technology engagement is delivered through.
Starting Point
Most technology engagements start with a scoping conversation - 30 minutes to understand what decision you're facing, what you've already evaluated, and whether there's a fit. If there is, we'll propose a scope.
If there isn't, we'll tell you honestly and point you in the right direction.
No obligation. No junior consultant taking notes. Just a straight conversation.