Tapojärvi has restarted as main mining contractor at Sotkamo Silver’s underground silver mine in Finland, resuming a role it previously held from 2018 to 2023 under a new agreement signed in June 2025. The contract covers full-scale production mining services, including drilling, blasting, loading and haulage in a familiar orebody and infrastructure, allowing rapid ramp-up using existing site knowledge and established operating procedures. For geotechnical and production engineers, continuity in contractor, ground control methods and equipment fleet should reduce interface risk and support stable output planning.

STRACON has secured an integrated engineering, construction, financing and long-term operations and maintenance contract for the Pérez Caldera Tailings Dam at Anglo American Sur’s Los Bronces copper operation in Chile’s Lo Barnechea district. The scope combines dam design and build with funding and multi-year O&M, signalling a bundled delivery model for critical tailings infrastructure rather than separate EPC and operator contracts. For geotechnical and tailings engineers, this points to growing demand for contractors capable of lifecycle stewardship under Chile’s stringent post-Brumadinho regulatory environment.

Metso has booked the third tranche of orders for JSC Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex’s copper smelter project in Uzbekistan, following equipment and project services contracts announced on 9 August 2024. The first two tranches, totalling €146 million, were booked in Q4 2024, with the latest booking covering additional core process equipment and associated services for the greenfield smelter complex. The staged order intake signals a multi-phase build-out where process design, commissioning support and long-lead items will be critical for throughput, energy performance and sulphur capture compliance.