WA Mining Conference & Exhibition 2026: What Mining Contractors Need to Know

WA Mining is Perth's flagship mining trade event — a two-day exhibition running alongside a paid two-day conference. It brings together WA's miners, METS suppliers, contractors, technology providers, government and academia under one roof at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre. After sold-out shows in 2024 and 2025, the 2026 edition returns bigger, with the exhibition floor and the main-stage conference program running side by side.

WA Mining 2026 runs Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 September 2026, 10am to 5pm daily, at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, 21 Mounts Bay Road, Perth WA 6000. Both the exhibition and the conference run across the same two days, so you can cover the floor and the main stage in a single trip.

Exhibition entry is the accessible tier, and there is a complimentary VIP pass available on application — but it is restricted to C-suite, procurement managers and engineers employed by a mining company. If approved, it covers two-day exhibition access to 150+ exhibitors, entry to the conference, catering across both days and the WA Mining networking event. Contractors and service providers who don't meet the VIP criteria register on standard visitor or paid conference terms.

The attendee mix is mine operators and site leadership, procurement and supply chain, engineers and maintenance managers, METS suppliers, contractors and technology vendors, plus WA government and research bodies. Because the VIP program deliberately targets procurement managers and engineers at mining companies, the floor skews toward the people who actually approve spend and award scopes.

The 2026 agenda opens with a WA Government address followed by a resources sector update and outlook from the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA. Confirmed themes include digital and autonomous transformation (CSIRO on AI, automation and advanced data systems), the human–machine partnership covering workforce integration with automated operations, plus sessions on energy, decarbonisation, investment and research from bodies like MRIWA. Programs are subject to change, so check the main stage schedule before you book flights.

Expect 150+ exhibitors spanning mobile plant and heavy equipment, wear parts and consumables, automation and remote operations, condition monitoring and sensing, electrification and alternative energy, safety and PPE, water and dust management, labour hire and training, and mining software. It is a working supplier floor — demonstrations, spec sheets and live product, not just banners.

This is the one Perth event where you can walk from a Pilbara procurement manager to a Goldfields maintenance superintendent in ten minutes. For contractors it delivers three things: direct access to buyers, a read on where operators are spending next (automation, electrification, shutdown efficiency), and a fast way to benchmark your capability and rates against the rest of the market before your next tender.

Plan before you fly in. Pull the exhibitor list and speaker list, mark 10–15 targets, and book meetings ahead of the show rather than hoping to bump into people. Bring a one-page capability summary with scope, crew size, regions serviced, certifications and insurances. Ask about upcoming work packages and prequalification requirements instead of pitching. Attend the networking event — the useful conversations usually happen there. Follow up within 48 hours.

QME in Mackay is the Bowen Basin coal equivalent, heavy on machinery and Queensland contractors. Diggers & Dealers in Kalgoorlie is investor-and-executive focused. Copper to the World in Adelaide is single-commodity and strategy-led. WA Mining is the operations and supply-chain show for Western Australia — if your crews work the Pilbara, Goldfields, Mid West or the South West, it is the highest-value two days on the WA calendar.

Skip the brochure conversation. Ask operators what scopes are coming to market in the next 12 months, who holds the head contract for site delivery, how prequalification works and which portal they use, what compliance evidence they need for competencies, medicals and inductions, and what mobilisation lead time they expect. Those five answers tell you whether to quote now or build the relationship for the next cycle.