Mineral Resources and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium have approved a A$490 million brownfield expansion at the Mt Marion lithium operation in Western Australia, adding an underground mine and new flotation plant to increase recoveries and throughput. The final investment decision covers transitioning from a purely open-pit operation to a combined open-pit/underground layout, with flotation enabling higher-grade concentrate production from existing ore types. The partners expect the upgrade to materially extend Mt Marion’s mine life by decades, with implications for long-term tailings, water balance and underground geotechnical design.

NEXT Cooling South Africa has secured a contract to design and supply a four-cell fibre reinforced polyester (FRP) condenser cooling tower for a Tanzanian gold mine, forming part of a central refrigeration plant expansion led by BBE Group. The package includes all cooling tower internals, including process piping, high-surface-area fill and drift eliminators, indicating a fully engineered thermal and hydraulic solution rather than a shell-only supply. For mine operators, the FRP construction points to reduced corrosion risk and lower structural weight compared with conventional steel or concrete towers, easing installation and long-term maintenance.

Technology trials in mining are being reframed from simple proof of concept (PoC) exercises – which only test whether a tool works technically, such as an AI drill-optimisation algorithm or a new fleet-management platform – to proof of value (PoV) programmes that quantify impacts on KPIs like cost per tonne, unplanned downtime, and recovery. PoV design typically hard-wires baselines, control groups, and production-scale timeframes into trials, rather than short, isolated pilots on a single loader or crusher line. For engineers, the shift means specifying measurable value hypotheses up front and integrating trials with existing dispatch, SCADA, and planning systems.