MacLean Engineering has delivered its first Volvo Penta-powered underground mining machine to a Quebec operation, using an industrial off-road diesel from Volvo Penta supplied through Canadian distributor Wajax. The deal follows the formalisation of the Volvo Penta–Wajax distribution partnership in Canada, targeting MacLean’s fleet of battery-electric and diesel support units such as bolters, shotcrete sprayers and utility vehicles. For mine operators, the move standardises powertrains around a globally supported engine platform, simplifying parts, service logistics and emissions compliance across mixed fleets.

Austmine and AusIMM, with Expande (Chile), Peru Mining Innovation Hub, CEMI (Canada) and Colab Partner Baker Hughes, have launched the Global Open Innovation Colab challenge “Critical Disruptors: From Discovery to Recovery” to run at the Global Resources Innovation Exchange 2026 (GRX26). The challenge targets technologies that compress exploration-to-extraction timelines, including concepts for faster orebody characterisation, integrated drilling-to-processing data streams and step-change recovery methods. For miners and METS suppliers, it offers a structured route to pilot novel sensing, automation and processing solutions with multi-jurisdictional partners.

Metso has secured orders worth about €39 million ($45 million) to supply crushing and grinding plant equipment for Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine Expanded Phase 2 (EP2) project in central British Columbia, supporting the next throughput step-up at the open-pit operation. The package includes a Superior MKIII primary gyratory crusher and Nordberg HP Series cone crushers, integrated into a new comminution line. For process engineers, the standardised Metso flowsheet should simplify spares, liner management and control integration across Blackwater’s staged expansions.