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    AMEC fuel supply pinch: cost and schedule impacts for junior mine projects

    March 18, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    AMEC fuel supply pinch: cost and schedule impacts for junior mine projects

    First reported on Australian Mining

    30 Second Briefing

    Fuel supply constraints are increasingly disrupting Australia’s mining and exploration sector, with the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) warning that junior miners in remote regions face diesel shortages and volatile pricing at outback depots. AMEC reports that smaller operators, often running single-rig exploration programmes and contract haulage fleets, have limited storage capacity and weaker bargaining power with bulk fuel suppliers. The situation is forcing schedule changes, higher operating costs per drilled metre or tonne moved, and greater logistics risk for greenfields projects far from pipeline or rail infrastructure.

    Technical Brief

    • For similar remote projects, early-stage evaluation of hybrid power (solar–battery–diesel) is becoming a key risk mitigation.

    Our Take

    AMEC’s recent push for the Federal Government to address workforce and infrastructure bottlenecks in Australia’s critical minerals sector suggests that fuel supply constraints are being viewed as part of a wider systemic logistics problem rather than an isolated cost issue for juniors.

    In our database of Australian Mining coverage, AMEC has also advocated for a national strategic reserve for critical minerals, signalling that the association is increasingly framing supply security (including energy and fuel) as a national resilience issue, not just a commercial concern for project proponents.

    For junior project developers in Australia, concurrent pressure points around fuel, transport and power highlighted across multiple AMEC-linked pieces likely mean that early-stage project studies now need more conservative assumptions on operating logistics and contingency for supply disruptions.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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