Think & Act Differently, Powered by BHP

Thing & Act Differently (TAD) is the welcoming face of BHP innovation. To think & act differently is about having a different approach to innovation. We are thinking beyond the boundaries of the mining industry. Our approach involves challenging conventional thinking, working towards positive-impact solutions, and embracing an ecosystem of great people and ideas.

Explore open opportunities

Past Challenges

Open House Orebody Knowledge

Closed
Can you help us gather better subsurface data to improve the extraction of critical minerals?

394 participants

The Ripple Effect Innovation Challenge

Closed
Measuring the impact of BHP's Local and Indigenous spend

Open House Deep Mining

Closed
Can you help us unlock the value of deep critical minerals?

313 participants

Open House Nitrous Lockxide

Closed
Can you help us capture and recycle nitrous oxide (NOx) gases from future heap leaching processes?

74 participants

Open House Creative Copper Recovery

Closed
Can you help us unlock low energy, copper focused metal extraction techniques?

167 participants

Open House Potash drying

Closed
Can you improve our potash drying process while reducing emissions?

101 participants

Open House Comminution

Closed
Change the way we crush, pulverise and grind rocks for mineral extraction.

146 participants

Open House BioMetals

Closed
Shining a light on biotechnology and its potential application within the mining sector

223 participants

Think & Act Differently with Data

Closed
Scan to Element Challenge

45 participants

Open House Critical Minerals Extraction

Closed
Extract cobalt, rare-earth elements (REE), and molybdenum from copper or nickel deposits​

87 participants

Open House Preconditioning

Closed
Reduce energy and support recovery with preconditioning

53 participants

Open House Carbon Economy

Closed
Think differently about managing emissions and storing carbon in mining

93 participants

Geoshapes Challenge

Closed
Build a machine learning model that can detect and analyse geometric shapes in three-dimensional space from 3D data

8 participants

Open House Slope Engineering

Closed
Help us optimise and stabilise the slopes of our operations to enable less material to be moved

33 participants

Open House Material Movement

Closed
Help us move materials more efficiently and sustainably

46 participants

Open House In Mine Separation and Pre-Concentration

Closed
Help us extract valuable material more precisely and sustainably

37 participants

Waste to Value

Closed
A holistic approach to minimise mine waste and create value.

225 participants

Electric Mine Simulation

Closed
Advancing the mining industry towards a zero carbon future.

190 participants

Scalable and Adaptable Mining

Closed
Reimagine mining through modular architecture and technology

209 participants

Hydrogen Hypothesis

Closed
Safe and Effective Use of Hydrogen in Mining

158 participants

Ingenious Extraction

Closed
Finding New Ways to Extract Modern Metals

261 participants

TAD Innovator Benefits

Think & Act Differently (TAD), Powered by BHP recognise that innovation isn’t a one-size fits all process, and tailor each innovator’s journey to their strengths and aspirations. We offer mentoring, funding, facilitation, capability uplift, samples and other resources to ensure you and your idea gain value through our work together.

Connect

Connect with resource industry leaders and technical experts to gain exposure for your idea within our business and the broader ecosystem. This includes connecting with other mining companies that are involved in our collaboration joint venture.

Support

We run a cohort based program where innovators collaborate with us and each other gaining access to mentors, data, resources and people with valuable expertise.

Accelerate

We’re not looking to own IP; our focus is on helping accelerate ideas to enable the use of the technology that innovators create.