BHP has lodged an Environmental Impact Assessment application in Chile for the New Escondida Concentrator, intended to replace the ageing Los Colorados plant at the Escondida copper operation in the Atacama Desert. The project forms part of a long-term investment plan to sustain concentrator throughput and copper production over coming decades as existing processing infrastructure nears the end of its design life. For engineers, the key issue will be how the new plant’s layout, water and energy systems integrate with Escondida’s high-altitude, water-constrained site conditions.

Haultrax has completed what it calls the first dedicated mining Fleet Management System deployment for prime movers and road trains operating outside the pit, extending real-time tracking beyond traditional in-pit haul trucks. The system targets multi-trailer road trains hauling ore and waste on long-distance mine and public-road corridors, where payloads, queues, and delays have typically been unmanaged or manually logged. For engineers, this closes a major data gap in end-to-end material movement, enabling more accurate cycle-time analysis, road design validation, and interaction management with light vehicles.

Resolution Copper, the Rio Tinto (55%)–BHP (45%) joint venture in Arizona, has completed a land exchange with the US Forest Service, clearing a key federal hurdle for developing one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper orebodies at Oak Flat. The deal transfers federally owned land above the deep underground deposit to the company in return for conservation parcels elsewhere, enabling progression of mine permitting and detailed engineering. Geotechnical design for very deep block-cave mining and associated surface subsidence management now moves to the foreground.