Media releases - 2026

Aquila Mine's workforce-led innovations have been recognised at the Queensland Mining Awards, with four finalist nominations across two engineering projects and a win for its Armadillo excavation system.

The Armadillo excavation system took out the Safety Initiative Award for eliminating high-risk excavation over live conveyors, while the Armadillo and Mini Face Bolter innovations were also named finalists across three award categories.

This recognition reflects Aquila Mine's ongoing focus on developing practical engineering solutions that remove workers from high-risk tasks while enhancing operational performance underground.

• Finalist: Collaboration Award – Mini Face Bolter
• Winner: Safety Initiative Award – The Armadillo: Eliminating High-Risk Excavation over Live Conveyors
• Finalist: Innovation Award – The Armadillo: Eliminating High-Risk Excavation over Live Conveyors
• Finalist: Innovation Award – Mini Face Bolter

Developed in partnership with Mackay-based Jet Group, both innovations originated from ideas identified by workers at the coalface and were brought to life through close collaboration between operators, engineers and industry partners.

Aquila Mine general manager Braedon Smith said the awards were testament to the team's commitment to continuously improving the way work is done and developing safer solutions.

"This award recognises the efforts of a team that approaches safety by focusing on eliminating risk, rather than just managing it," he said.

"Both ideas were developed to address real operational challenges, particularly in our low-seam mining environment where traditional approaches are often unsuitable.

"Importantly, both solutions have the potential to be adapted across the industry, demonstrating how innovation developed to solve site-specific challenges can deliver broader benefits for mining operations."

Anglo American Vice President Safety Heather Bell said the recognition highlighted the value of engineering controls in driving meaningful safety improvements.

"These projects demonstrate what can be achieved when innovation is focused on removing people from the line of fire and eliminating hazards at their source," she said.

"They also highlight the importance of engaging the workforce in designing solutions that are practical, effective and capable of delivering lasting safety outcomes."

The Armadillo is a purpose-built mobile excavation guard system that enables safe shotfiring and excavation above underground conveyors by physically separating workers and infrastructure from blasting hazards while maintaining production continuity.

The Mini Face Bolter addresses one of the mining industry's most persistent low-seam safety challenges by mechanising bolt installation during longwall face recovery activities, removing the need for workers to manually handle heavy equipment in confined conditions.

The Queensland Mining Awards were held in Mackay on July 22. The Mini Face Bolter has also been named a finalist in the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference (QMIHSC) Safety Innovation Award in August.

Note to editors:

In Australia, Anglo American has five steelmaking coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, along with additional joint venture interests in steelmaking coal and manganese, and base metals exploration projects in Queensland. Anglo American has long prioritised engineering solutions to remove coal mine workers from potential hazards at its five operations. Through sustained investment in automation, data and remote operations, Anglo American last year notched up a milestone 10,000 longwall mining shears from its Remote Operation Centres which run our underground mines from the surface. Since transitioning to remote operations, Anglo American has reduced exposure risk to hazardous areas by 22,500 hours and this was made possible through more than 1000 system initiative to make it a success. Anglo American’s Capcoal Complex has also embraced remote control technology to improve operator safety on site with a remote-controlled stockpile dozer. This initiative will reduce in-cab dozer exposure time by 45,000 to 75,000 hours a year once the technology is fully deployed across all sites.

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