Coal preparation is one of the most important parts of the mining value chain, and one of the least understood. For 60 years, the Australian Coal Preparation Society (ACPS) has helped change that, bringing together the people who wash, process, improve and refine coal into a saleable product, and giving the profession a place to learn from each other, challenge old ideas and keep pushing standards higher.
That legacy was on display at the 2026 ACPS National Conference and Exhibition in the Hunter Valley, where a packed technical program, strong attendance and sold-out exhibition reflected both the history of the Society and the industry’s focus on what comes next.
ACPS Life Member Andrew Swanson, who presented on the ACPS’s 60-year history, said coal preparation had become a distinct and increasingly important part of the industry, but did not really belong anywhere.
“When coal preparation became a thing in Australia, which was after the World War II, it was not very well known. It didn’t have a home. They weren’t engineers, they weren’t metallurgists, they were a little bit different.
“As a kindred society catering to coal preparation engineers, the Coal Preparation Society was born in 1966.
“Its purpose has not really changed since then. Advancing the profession, facilitating technical and social interchange between people, and training and education has always been an enormous part of it,” Andrew said.
Rafael Brymora, Chairperson of the conference Local Organising Committee, said that educational focus still sits at the centre of the conference and the Society itself.
“The whole point was to bring together knowledge from all the different people across the industry and use it as a base for education.
“That’s the main goal of ACPS. Education.”
Rafael said some of the most valuable takeaways from the conference come not just from the formal program, but from the conversations, problem-solving and connections that happen between sessions.
“If you learn something new or make a connection, and it could be just through having a coffee with someone, that’s the beauty of these events. It doesn’t always have to come from a technical paper or formal presentation. That’s why we bring people together.”
That shared knowledge matters to the entire industry because coal preparation is, at its core, a value-adding exercise.
“When coal is mined, it does not come out of the ground as a clean, saleable product,” Rafael said.
“It contains rock and other material that has to be removed. Coal preparation is the process of separating that out so you can recover more usable coal, improve quality and meet customer specifications.
“That is where the value is added. The more product you can recover, and the less that goes to waste, the more efficient and valuable the whole mining operation becomes.”
Conference delegate Jason Schumacher, a coal quality engineer at Yancoal, said coal preparation is not separate from the rest of mining, but central to making the whole system work.
“How do we recover as much saleable in-spec product coal as we can from any given ROM delivery?” Jason said.
“For me, the fundamental process engineering piece was learning a lot about not wasting things.
“Everyone’s work relies on everyone else’s. The more we can understand and talk each other’s language, the more efficient the whole mining process becomes and the more profitable we can try and stay.”
He said that is why ACPS still matters.
“The ACPS is still a key cornerstone of technical knowledge and knowledge transfer,” Jason said.
“You can’t necessarily know everything, but you can meet people and network so if a problem comes up six months down the track, you’ll already have a few starting points and know who to call.”
That exchange of ideas does not just happen between mine sites. Suppliers, manufacturers and service providers also play a big role in helping operations improve recovery, reliability, safety and efficiency.
Peter Barnett from Mincotech said coal preparation remains one of the most important steps in the chain.
“It’s the value add in the chain,” he said.
“We’re all in the beneficiation side of the business, improving the raw materials that come from the ground to be a saleable product for the mining companies.”
He said ACPS remains valuable because it gives suppliers and producers a place to share ideas in a practical setting.
“What’s great about the ACPS is it’s a technical group and it’s supported by the operations, so everyone is coming together to learn.”
Pat Caputo from Elastomers Australia said that increasingly means working alongside sites rather than simply supplying equipment, with suppliers expected to help improve outcomes across the plant and evolve alongside the operations they support.
“We certainly look to embrace that partnership model and work with them closely to achieve their desired outcomes,” Pat said.
“We know one thing for certain; things don’t remain static. So, it’s about making sure we can shift with our customers to be more efficient in what they do, so they can get the right outcomes at the end of the day.”
That focus on collaboration, innovation and practical improvement is especially important as the industry looks to the next generation.
Among the younger professionals at this year’s conference was Samantha Parkinson, a process engineer from Bengalla and member of the ACPS NSW committee, part of the younger generation the Society is actively working to bring through.
Samantha said the role of a process engineer is split between solving immediate plant challenges and finding longer-term improvements.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to improve revenue, increase yield, improve our product quality,” she said.
“The best part about this conference is that it’s showcasing the industry’s leading practices and presenting that to everyone,” Samantha said.
“You get to hear about what different mine sites are doing, what maybe has or hasn’t worked for them. But then you also get to hear from the different suppliers, whether they’ve got new equipment or innovations that we might want to know about and potentially take back to our site.”
ACPS National Chair Chris Thornton said seeing graduates and younger professionals at the conference was one of the clearest signs of why the conference theme, Energising the Future, felt so fitting.
“You see a lot of younger people coming in and challenging those old ideas,” he said.
“Why do we do it this way? And if the answer is, that’s the way it’s always been done, a lot of times that’s not good enough. That type of thinking helps us all to stop and ask whether there is a better way, and that’s how the industry keeps improving.
“Every exhibitor, every speaker is talking about something new, something different, something that we can all learn from.”
The 2026 conference was not just a celebration of ACPS turning 60, it was a reminder of why the Society still matters. Coal preparation remains a critical part of the mining value chain, but at its core it is still a people industry – built on technical skill, problem-solving, shared knowledge and constant refinement.
And after six decades, the ACPS is still doing what it was created to do. Bringing those people together and giving the profession a home.
Title image caption: The first NSW Live-In Coal Preparation Course was held in 1982.
