Surging global demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage is pushing Australia to move beyond spodumene concentrate exports into domestic refining and cathode‑grade chemical production. Industry proposals centre on converting hard‑rock feed into battery‑grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate in Western Australia, leveraging existing Tier‑1 deposits and port infrastructure but facing high energy costs, skills shortages and permitting timelines. For miners and process engineers, the shift implies greater focus on impurity control, reagent optimisation and integration of hydrometallurgical circuits with upstream mine planning.

Australian miners are hitting a data wall as high‑bandwidth sensors, autonomous fleets and video streams overwhelm traditional cloud links, pushing operations towards private LTE networks and on‑site edge computing. Vendors such as Vocus are pairing Starlink Business Rural satellite backhaul with 4G/5G private LTE to keep haul trucks, crushers and fixed plant connected in real time, even on remote pits and waste dumps. For engineers, this shift means designing networks and control systems around low‑latency, on‑site processing for fleet dispatch, collision avoidance and condition monitoring rather than centralised data centres.

Liebherr’s R 9800 G6 backhoe excavator at Yancoal’s Mount Thorley Warkworth mine in New South Wales has set new performance benchmarks for ultra-class loading, working the main overburden fleet alongside 340-tonne haul trucks. The machine, in the 800-tonne class, is designed for high-volume overburden removal with a nominal bucket capacity around 40 m³ and electric-drive assistance for faster cycle times. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the deployment signals growing confidence in ultra-large excavators for sustained production in hard overburden conditions.