British Columbia has issued an environmental assessment certificate for Vitreo Minerals’ $300 million Angus silica sand mine north of Prince George, clearing the way for a 20‑year operation producing up to 2 million tonnes of proppant annually. The Environmental Assessment Office found no significant adverse effects with mitigation, and requires the project to be substantially started by 2036. Construction is expected to create about 150 jobs and operations nearly 140, with formal participation from Lheidli T’enneh, McLeod Lake, Tsay Keh Dene and West Moberly First Nations in the assessment process.

Macmahon Underground Pty Ltd has secured an underground mining services contract at the Mt Marion lithium operation, 70 km south of Kalgoorlie, jointly owned by Mineral Resources and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium on a 50:50 basis. The scope covers underground development and production work, signalling a shift from Mt Marion’s historically open-pit focus towards a deeper, longer-life operation. Geotechnical and mine planning teams should expect new requirements around underground ground control, ventilation, and ore handling design for hard-rock lithium orebodies in the Eastern Goldfields setting.

BQE Water and Centerra Gold have begun preparations to restart the selenium treatment plant at the Kemess copper-gold project in northern British Columbia, originally built and briefly operated in 2020 to manage mine-impacted water. The plant is designed to remove selenium from contact water before discharge, using BQE’s specialised process technology to meet stringent provincial water quality limits. Restarting the facility signals advancing project development and will be central to permitting and long-term water management planning for any future underground or open pit operations.