Discussions around how mining companies work with their local communities took centre stage on the first day of the Asia Pacific International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) at the Sydney Showgrounds.

In the opening keynote speech of the AIMEX Conference brought to you by Davey Bickford Enaex, NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee commended the event for its opening focus on community.

"There's a lot of focus on technology and innovation [at AIMEX] which is very good news for our industry but it’s also great to have the opportunity to focus this morning on some other very important priorities for us as an industry in relation to community engagement is a very commendable way to start a mining industry event," Mr Galilee said.

Galilee explained to the opening day crowd the NSW Minerals Council addressed the local community’s priorities through their Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue (UHMD) project, one of the world’s best engagement community practices.

The keynote was followed by an engaging panel discussion about ways that mining companies can engage more with communities more collaboratively in regional and rural areas.

Chaired by Austmine CEO Christine Gibbs-Stewart who led the discussion about what leverage points the industry has particularly with the METS sector to change the traditional image of mining and not only the image but change the way mining companies do things to create the community we want for tomorrow.

Yancoal Executive General Manager - Environment & Community, Mark Jacobs, was one of the panel members and he suggested as an industry mining companies haven't always done community engagement particularly well.

"I think that for a long time the industry took the community for granted on the basis it was providing economic impetus to communities but I think from the digital age and the transparency of our reporting and the availability of information and the visibility of our operations has made us a lot closer to communities than 20 years ago," Mr Jacobs said.

Fellow panellist Anna Littleboy, Programme Leader – Mine Lifecycles, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland said you need to put the effort in to engage and you need to continue to engage with communities.

"The community will change, the different groups within the community will shift and move so you can never really take a moment in time and say this is my relationship with the community," Ms Littleboy said.

The afternoon sessions concentrated on automation and the potential safety issues but also how the workforce will be involved and how it will change the tasks that people will undertake.

As visitors streamed through the exhibits, demonstrations were held on all types of technology from welding through to lubricant friction tests and they also got to see and touch huge coal loaders, underground machines, vehicles, engines and much more. Mining companies were also kept busy in the all-new Mining Pavilion with visitors finding out about their current activities and discussing job opportunities.

AIMEX continues for two more days, open from 10am to 5pm on Wednesday and 10am to 4pm on Thursday. Just visit aimex.com.au and register before you attend to allow form easy access when you arrive.