About Deep Mining 2027
16–18 November 2027 | Perth, Western Australia
Conference co-chairs
Dr Daniel Cumming-Potvin
Project Lead – mXrap Development
Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Australia
Daniel completed his Bachelor of Mining Engineering and PhD at The University of Western Australia in 2012 and 2018, respectively. He has worked at a number of underground metal mines in Australia, specialising in the areas of ground support, monitoring, and mine seismicity. He is project lead for mXrap.
Professor Johan Wesseloo
Professor and Director
Australian Centre for Geomechanics
Since obtaining a BEng (civil) and MEng (geotechnical) from The University of Pretoria, Johan has been involved in geotechnical engineering in open pit and underground environments throughout 14 countries. He commenced his career in 1998 as a geotechnical engineer at SRK Consulting, Johannesburg where he was involved in open pit and underground projects in varying geotechnical conditions. In 2005 he was awarded a PhD (geotechnical) from The University of Pretoria. Johan joined the Australian Centre for Geomechanics (ACG) in 2007 as a research fellow. During his time at the ACG, Johan has been involved in research, the supervision of postgraduate students and geotechnical training. He also performs geotechnical and mining-induced seismicity reviews providing him with the valuable opportunity to visit numerous operations worldwide. Johan was instrumental in the development of the mXrap software and many of the software routines and apps available in that platform. In 2019, Johan was appointed director of the ACG.
Keynote paper presenter
Izak Morkel
Principal Geotechnical Engineer
IGM Geotechnical
Combining a Master of Science (Physics) with over 15 years of experience in operational rock mechanics, Izak specialises in translating seismological principles into practical geotechnical controls for complex underground environments. As the founder of IGM Geotechnical, his professional background spans onsite engineering at ultra-deep operations mining at depths of up to 4 km, applied research during his previous role at the Australian Centre for Geomechanics, and ongoing geotechnical consultancy for mining houses globally. He focuses on integrating mine seismology with operational strategies to manage seismic risk and high-stress ground control.
Izak is an active contributor to the geotechnical research community, with a publication record spanning over a decade. His applied research focuses heavily on practical mine seismology – covering re-entry assessment methodologies, seismic data quality, source parameters, and dynamic ground support testing.
Conference manager
Josephine Ruddle
Deep Mining Event Manager
Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Australia
Conference coordinator
Natalie Miller
Deep Mining Event Coordinator
Australian Centre for Geomechanics