SME and the SME Foundation are offering approximately $1.6 million in scholarships for the 2026–2027 academic year to SME student members pursuing mining and minerals careers. The application window runs through 15 October, targeting undergraduates and postgraduates in mining engineering, metallurgy and related disciplines. For operators and consultants, the programme signals a continued pipeline of formally trained graduates at a time of tightening labour markets and increasing technical demands around automation, geometallurgy and ESG reporting.

Glencore Technology’s Jameson Cell is delivering higher mass pull and improved concentrator recoveries at Valterra Platinum’s Mogalakwena North Concentrator in South Africa after four units replaced 40 conventional flotation cells. The compact Jameson Cells provide intensified mixing and aeration in a much smaller footprint, cutting the number of banks and associated piping, instrumentation, and maintenance points. For plant designers and metallurgists, the case signals scope to debottleneck existing flotation circuits and reduce capex/opex by substituting high-intensity cells for large fleets of conventional machines.

NRW Holdings’ subsidiary Primero Group has secured the EPC contract for Ramelius Resources’ Mount Magnet Expansion Project in Western Australia, covering a major upgrade of the gold processing plant. The works will reconfigure processing infrastructure to integrate multiple ore sources into a single production hub, shifting Mt Magnet towards a centralised treatment model. For plant and process engineers, the project signals upcoming brownfield tie-ins, debottlenecking of existing circuits and potential changes to comminution and leach residence times to handle more variable feed.