Larvotto Resources has begun underground development at its Hillgrove antimony–gold project in New South Wales, re‑opening historical workings to access high‑grade antimony and refractory gold mineralisation. The restart involves rehabilitating existing declines and levels, upgrading ground support, and re‑establishing services to support modern mechanised mining fleets. For geotechnical and mining teams, early focus will be on re‑assessing legacy excavation stability, water inflows and ventilation capacity to safely transition Hillgrove back into sustained underground production.

Fortescue has signed a technology development agreement with Taiyuan Iron and Steel (TISCO), a subsidiary of China Baowu, to jointly explore green iron production routes using Fortescue’s ore and TISCO’s low‑carbon steelmaking capability. The partnership centres on piloting and scaling technologies such as hydrogen‑based direct reduction and renewable‑powered electric furnaces within Baowu’s existing integrated steel complexes. For miners and steel producers, the move signals growing demand for ore specifications, beneficiation strategies and process control tailored to low‑carbon ironmaking flowsheets in China.

Liontown Resources has completed three years of open pit mining at its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia and is now transitioning fully to underground operations. The mine is shifting to long-term underground production targeting high-grade spodumene beneath the existing pits, supported by the Dragonfly accommodation village constructed to house the expanded workforce. The move concentrates activity on deeper ore zones, with implications for ground control, ventilation design and paste backfill planning in a hard-rock lithium setting.