Mining — Go-to-Market Strategy

Research compiled: March 2026 | For: Drover Labs CEO

Key Conferences & Events

Tier 1 — Must Attend

MINExpo International

• Organized by: National Mining Association (NMA)
• Location: Las Vegas Convention Center
• Frequency: Every 4 years
• Last held: September 24–26, 2024 — drew 45,000+ attendees from 148 countries; 2,000 exhibitors; 825,000 sq ft exhibit space
• Next: 2028 (tentative)
• Who attends: Mining executives, mine managers, engineers, geologists, procurement
• Why: The world's largest mining event — "if it's mining, it lives here"
• Source: minexpo.com, NMA

SME Annual Conference & Expo (Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration)

• Organized by: SME (smenet.org)
• Location: Varies (Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City typical)
• Frequency: Annual (February/March)
• Attendees: ~8,000 mining engineers, geologists, academics
• Why: Technical audience — this is where mining engineers who write purchase specs gather
• Key: SME has formal underground mining and mine health/safety division committees

PDAC (Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada)

• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Frequency: Annual (March)
• Attendees: ~25,000 from 130 countries
• Focus: Exploration and junior miners — good for Canadian market entry
• Buyer profile: Exploration managers, JV decision-makers

Tier 2 — High Value for Mining Tech

IMARC (International Mining and Resources Conference)

• Location: Melbourne, Australia
• Frequency: Annual (October/November)
• Attendees: ~7,000 from 100 countries
• Focus: Australian and Asia-Pacific mining — excellent for Rio Tinto, BHP, Newmont territory

The Electric Mine Conference

• Location: Rotating (Perth 2024, 2025)
• Focus: Underground electrification and autonomy — directly overlaps with Drover's value prop
• Buyer type: Innovation and technology VPs at major miners

ISEE (International Society of Explosives Engineers)

• Focus: Blasting and post-blast operations — directly relevant to stope inspection use case

Hoist & Haul (SME)

• Focus: Underground transportation and infrastructure — good for tunnel inspection

Tier 3 — Niche but Targeted

MINEXCHANGE (annual SME event) Underground Construction Technology (UCT) — tunnel inspection CONEXPO-CON/AGG — broader construction/mining crossover AusIMM (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy) — Australia/NZ

Industry Associations

Who Makes Buying Decisions at Mining Companies

Decision Structure (Tier 1 Miners: BHP, Rio Tinto, Newmont, Barrick, Agnico Eagle)

1. Mine Manager / General Manager (Site Level)

• Has authority to approve pilot programs up to ~$50K–$200K
• Pain: "My surveyors are spending hours in dangerous zones and I lose production time"
• Key trigger: MSHA/safety incident, insurance pressure, near-miss event
• Approves: One-day trial ($15K) and short-term pilots

2. Mine Surveyor / Chief Surveyor

• Technical champion — they experience the daily pain
• Most likely to have heard of Emesent/Exyn — understand the technology
• Will advocate internally for adoption
• Can be found at SME conferences and LinkedIn mining groups

3. VP Technology / Head of Digital (Innovation Function)

• Manages the digital twin, automation, and innovation portfolio
• Authority to approve $500K–$5M contracts
• Thinking about: vendor consolidation, data platform integration, digital twin ROI
• Profile: Often a young (35–45) engineer with MBA; tech-forward

4. VP Safety / Head of Health & Safety

• Key decision-maker when fatality/injury is the primary driver
• MSHA compliance pressure lands on their desk
• Approves technology if it demonstrably reduces worker exposure
• Language to use: "worker exposure hours eliminated," "zero-harm contribution"

5. Procurement / Supply Chain

• Controls the PO process — critical for closing deals
• Mining majors have approved vendor lists — Drover needs to be on them
• Contract terms: Often require ISO 9001, liability insurance ($5M+ coverage), local support

Decision Timeline for Mining Purchases

1. Awareness → Interest: 3–6 months (conference, referral, LinkedIn)
2. Trial/Pilot: 1–3 months (one-day demo → week-long pilot)
3. Internal evaluation: 3–6 months (procurement review, IT security, engineering sign-off)
4. Contract: 2–4 months (legal, vendor qualification)
5. Total sales cycle: 9–18 months for Tier 1 miners

Shortcut: Junior and Mid-Tier Miners

• Tier 2/3 miners (Kinross, First Majestic, Fortuna Silver, SSR Mining) have faster decisions
• Often site-level managers can approve $50–200K
• More willing to trial unproven tech than majors
• Recommendation: Get 2–3 mid-tier mine references first; use to crack majors

How to Get Pilot Deals

The One-Day Trial Play ($15K)

This is Drover's strongest GTM tool. Mining companies are notoriously conservative, and $15K for a one-day trial is below budget authority for a mine manager at most sites. Key elements:

1. Pre-work: Call site surveyor, identify ONE specific high-value problem (a stope that hasn't been surveyed in 6 months because it's too dangerous)
2. Day of trial: Deploy in that exact stope; deliver 3D point cloud and 360° inspection report same day
3. Report: Show before/after comparison; calculate the production delay cost that was eliminated
4. Follow-up: Within 48 hours, present the monthly contract proposal

Expected conversion rate from good trial: 30–50% (if problem-solution fit is right)

Lead Generation Channels

1. Direct outreach on LinkedIn: Mine surveyors, mine managers, VP Technology at mid-tier miners

   • Search: "mine surveyor" + "underground" + [company name]
   • Message: "Saw your post about [stope inspection issue] — we can do that in 15 minutes with a robot"

2. Conference booth/speaking at SME: Get on the technical session agenda for underground mining automation

3. MSHA compliance angle: Reach out to mines that received citations for inadequate workplace examinations (MSHA data is public at msha.gov) — they need compliance tools NOW

4. Partner with mine technology consultants: Companies like SCS Engineers (both at MINExpo 2024), Barr Engineering, AMC Consultants — they advise miners on tech adoption

5. Cold outreach via Engineering Firms: Parsons, AECOM, WSP have mining divisions that specify technology on new mine projects

Priority Target Companies for First Pilots

These are companies that have already invested in drone/robot technology, proving innovation appetite:

The Regulatory Angle (US Only)

• MSHA requires mines to demonstrate safe working places before each shift
• A robot that can certify a working place faster and safer than a human examiner = direct compliance value
• Target: Mines with recent MSHA "significant and substantial" (S&S) violations related to inadequate workplace examinations
• This reframes Drover as compliance infrastructure, not just a productivity tool

Pricing Strategy Context

Current Market Reference Points

• Emesent Hovermap: $34–51K to buy hardware (no RaaS model)
• Exyn: Unknown; likely similar capital purchase
• Flyability Elios 3: $80K purchase; no monthly service
• Spot: $75K–150K purchase; ~$10K/month for RaaS

What Drover Offers

• $15K one-day trial — unique in the market; lowest barrier to entry
• $5K–10K/month ongoing — competitive with Spot RaaS; includes full service + data delivery
• Value to mine: Replacing a 4-person survey team for 2 days/week saves $15–30K/month in labor and risk exposure

How to Frame the ROI Pitch

Scenario: Stope volume reconciliation

• Traditional method: 2–4 hours, 2-person team, re-entry after blast wait period, incomplete data
• Drover: 15–30 minutes, 0 personnel in hazardous zone, complete data
• Labor cost avoided: 2 people × 3 hours × $75/hr = $450/mission
• Risk: If a ground fall injures a surveyor: $500K–$2M workers comp + production stoppage
• At 2 missions/week: $3,600/month in labor savings, near-zero risk exposure
• Drover at $5K/month pays for itself if it prevents one injury event per year

Scenario: MSHA compliance examination

• Mines required to inspect each working place every shift
• 10 active headings × 3 shifts × 20 min/inspection = 100 person-hours/day
• Drover reduces each inspection to 5 min autonomous run: saves 75 person-hours/day
• At $75/hr fully loaded: $5,625/day in labor savings
• This alone justifies $5K–10K/month subscription easily