Macmahon has secured the mining services contract for the restart of the Mount Carlton gold mine in Queensland, signalling a move from care-and-maintenance back to full-scale open-pit and underground production. The scope is expected to cover drill-and-blast, load-and-haul and potentially underground development, requiring rapid recommissioning of mobile fleets, dewatering systems and ground support in previously inactive stopes. Geotechnical teams will need to reassess pit wall stability and underground conditions after the production hiatus, with updated monitoring and slope management plans before ramp-up.

Panasonic’s latest TOUGHBOOK range is being deployed on Australian mine sites where devices must survive dust ingress, vibration and extreme temperatures that routinely destroy standard laptops. Units are tested to MIL-STD-810H and IP65–IP66 levels, with magnesium-alloy chassis, daylight-readable touchscreens usable with gloves, and hot-swappable batteries to support 12–20-hour field shifts. For geotechs, surveyors and maintenance crews, the key gain is reliable digital access to pit-wall monitoring, equipment diagnostics and mine-planning data directly at the face or on mobile plant.

Queensland’s north-west copper sector is set for a major expansion as the State Government declares the proposed $2.3 billion Eva copper mine a prescribed project, fast-tracking approvals in the Mt Isa–Cloncurry district. The Eva project, owned by Copper Mountain (now part of Hudbay Minerals), is planned as a large-scale open-pit operation targeting multiple copper-gold deposits using conventional crush–grind–flotation processing. The decision signals strong backing for new sulphide concentrator capacity in an area already constrained by ageing infrastructure and long-haul concentrate logistics.