BHP has lodged an Environmental Impact Assessment application in Chile for the New Escondida Concentrator, intended to replace the ageing Los Colorados plant at the Escondida copper operation in the Atacama Desert. The project forms part of a long-term investment plan to sustain concentrator throughput and copper production over coming decades as existing processing infrastructure nears the end of its design life. For engineers, the key issue will be how the new plant’s layout, water and energy systems integrate with Escondida’s high-altitude, water-constrained site conditions.

3ME Technology has completed what it calls a world‑first DC ArcFlash testing programme with Rio Tinto on high‑voltage battery systems for mining fleets, generating empirical data on arc energy, blast pressure and thermal effects to refine PPE categories and enclosure designs. In a parallel development, 3ME is collaborating with Toshiba to integrate lithium titanate oxide (LTO) cells into its Bladevolt battery platform, targeting fast‑charge, high‑cycle underground mining vehicles. The work directly informs electrical protection coordination, battery pack architecture and risk assessments for diesel‑to‑battery conversions.

Resolution Copper, the Rio Tinto (55%)–BHP (45%) joint venture in Arizona, has completed a land exchange with the US Forest Service, clearing a key federal hurdle for developing one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper orebodies at Oak Flat. The deal transfers federally owned land above the deep underground deposit to the company in return for conservation parcels elsewhere, enabling progression of mine permitting and detailed engineering. Geotechnical design for very deep block-cave mining and associated surface subsidence management now moves to the foreground.