Founders Factory and Rio Tinto have backed six new mining-technology startups through their accelerator, selected from more than 500 applications received in four months as demand for raw materials intensifies across exploration, processing and critical mineral recovery. The cohort targets digital and hardware solutions spanning orebody discovery, plant optimisation and recovery of low-grade or complex ores, signalling strong investor appetite for deployable tools rather than pure R&D. For mine operators, this points to a near-term pipeline of pilots and site trials, particularly around data-driven processing control and improved critical mineral extraction.

Trafo Power Solutions is supplying seventeen specially engineered underground mini substations to a Zambian copper mine, comprising a mix of 800 kVA and 1,000 kVA units. The oil-cooled transformers are housed in compact, rugged enclosures designed for constrained haulages and high dust and moisture, with protection and switching gear integrated into each skid-mounted package. For mine electrical teams, the key impact is higher installed power density close to the working faces, reducing cable runs and voltage drop while keeping maintenance concentrated on modular units.

Epiroc has introduced a 480 kW underground charging system designed for heavy‑duty battery‑electric fleets, combining ruggedised hardware with OEM‑agnostic interfaces so mixed‑brand loaders and trucks can use the same infrastructure. The system uses dynamic power distribution to allocate available capacity across multiple connected vehicles, reducing peak demand and improving utilisation of limited mine power. For mine planners and electrical engineers, this points to higher charger throughput per substation bay and simpler standardisation of charging bays in constrained headings.