Queensland’s 2025 Resources Awards for Women have named 18 finalists spanning roles from engineering superintendent and diesel fitter to dragline operator and chief operating officer across coal, metals and quarrying operations. Nominees include frontline trades, site-based supervisors and corporate leaders from major producers and contractors, with categories covering technical excellence, safety leadership and gender diversity initiatives. For mine operators, the awards signal growing recognition of women in production-critical roles and may influence recruitment, apprenticeship intake and retention strategies on remote sites.

Tungsten Mining has raised $53 million via a placement after being listed in the Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus, bolstering funding for its tungsten-focused project pipeline. The capital injection strengthens the company’s balance sheet for advancing drilling, resource definition and feasibility work on Australian tungsten deposits, a metal critical for hardmetals, drill bits and high-temperature alloys. For mining engineers and project developers, the raise signals continued investor appetite for domestic critical minerals projects despite limited public detail on specific mine capacities or development timelines.

Victory Metals has reported metallurgical test work at its North Stanmore rare earths project near Cue in Western Australia confirming a high-value hafnium by-product alongside its clay-hosted REE mineralisation. The company is advancing flowsheet development to selectively recover hafnium from leach solutions already designed for rare earth extraction, positioning the metal as a potential “game-changer” revenue stream. For process and project engineers, the key issue will be integrating hafnium separation into existing hydrometallurgical circuits without materially increasing reagent consumption or capital intensity.