British Columbia has issued an environmental assessment certificate for Vitreo Minerals’ $300 million Angus silica sand mine north of Prince George, clearing the way for a 20‑year operation producing up to 2 million tonnes of proppant annually. The Environmental Assessment Office found no significant adverse effects with mitigation, and requires the project to be substantially started by 2036. Construction is expected to create about 150 jobs and operations nearly 140, with formal participation from Lheidli T’enneh, McLeod Lake, Tsay Keh Dene and West Moberly First Nations in the assessment process.

Macmahon Underground Pty Ltd has secured an underground mining services contract at the Mt Marion lithium operation, 70 km south of Kalgoorlie, jointly owned by Mineral Resources and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium on a 50:50 basis. The scope covers underground development and production work, signalling a shift from Mt Marion’s historically open-pit focus towards a deeper, longer-life operation. Geotechnical and mine planning teams should expect new requirements around underground ground control, ventilation, and ore handling design for hard-rock lithium orebodies in the Eastern Goldfields setting.

Almonty Industries has extended its offtake agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders for concentrate from the Sangdong mine in South Korea from 15 to 21 years, lifting total contracted volume by 40% from 3,150,000 to 4,410,000 metric tonne units and locking in a 6.3% price uplift per MTU. The deal secures minimum deliveries of 210,000 MTU per year after ramp-up, covering about 90% of Phase I mine output and supplying GTP’s US facilities. With Chinese export curbs driving record tungsten prices, the contract provides long-duration, conflict-free feedstock into Western defence and industrial powder supply chains.