Speaking at the IMARC awards dinner in Melbourne last night, Henry said BHP had invested $A50 billion in Australia in the past decade, which gave the company a much larger base from which to invest.

"At BHP Billiton, we have a rich portfolio of opportunities to continue to invest in in coming years," he said.

"This includes projects like the South Flank mine development in WA Iron Ore, which would provide one third of our production, staged expansion projects at Olympic Dam which could see us more than double production, and the upside we see at our Caval Ridge metallurgical coal mine."

Henry said collaboration and cooperation with the METS sector was crucial.

"Of course our industry has long embraced technology and innovation to improve productivity and drive efficiency. And today we lead the world when it comes to mining technology and services," he said.

"From the Potter-Delprat flotation process invented in Broken Hill over century ago, to the drone technology, driverless trucks and automated drills of today - our industry has never shied away from the challenges or opportunities that pave the way for innovation."

But Henry said the industry needed to find ways of doing things even more effectively.

"In today's world, we need to be innovating and getting new technologies deployed even more quickly," he said.

"We are now moving into the territory of diminishing returns when it comes to existing technology and ways of working, and we and the industry will be increasingly reliant upon innovation in technology and services for incremental productivity and for our continued prosperity.

"More effective innovation will not only help to sustain the industry here in Australia but it will also help the METS sector here to even more firmly establish itself as the innovation powerhouse for the global mining industry."

Henry noted that it could be tough for METS companies to deal with companies like BHP.

"Of course the reality is that we are in business, and there is always going to be a measure of commercial tension - we owe it to ourselves and our shareholders to drive a hard bargain.

"However, while continuing to do so, there's so much more we can and should be doing to work with the METS sector in a way that is good for our METS partners and allows us to become even better at what we do."

According to Henry, good examples of BHP collaborating with industry was the partnership with Caterpillar and WesTrac for deploying autonomous trucks in the Pilbara; the collaboration with IMP Technologies for super fine crushing technologies; and work with software firms RungePincockMinarco and Dingo Software.

Henry said BHP was working on its approach and the way it partnered in order to identify and capture the benefit of innovation in a more systematic way.

"That is one of the things that makes the METS-Ignited Living Labs initiative an exciting opportunity that we are looking forward to participating in," he said.

BHP has also launched an internal initiative called "Sandpits".

"Through Sandpits - akin to a testing or proving ground - we will invite equipment and technology suppliers from within the METS sector to work with us on developing solutions to specific business challenges," Henry said.

"We believe that this approach will help those that we are collaborating with to benefit from improved insight into our operations, improved market intelligence, and better access to data to help customise and develop solutions for the industry. We also know that new technologies mature much faster in the real world than in a lab."

Earlier this year, the company appointed a chief technology officer, Diane Jurgens, and consolidated its supply function across all assets under Arnoud Balhuizen.

But Henry warned the prosperity of the mining sector as a whole was being threatened by the WA Nationals' mining tax proposal.

"Mining matters to Australia. We are really good at it and it has generated abundant opportunity and wealth for country and certainly for WA," he said.

"But we can't take it for granted. It requires stable policy, and that requires a public that knows our industry and is excited by our future."