Caterpillar is extending its MineStar Command for hauling system with Luck Stone from the Bull Run Quarry to two additional Virginia sites and, for the first time, onto Cat 775 haul trucks. At Bull Run, a fleet of autonomous rigid trucks has already moved more than 3.5 million tons since November 2024, following an 18‑month ramp‑up. The deployment on mid‑size 775s signals AHS moving from large open‑pit fleets into smaller quarry-scale operations, with implications for traffic management, loading unit integration and mixed‑fleet haul road design.

Mahansaria Group is investing US$100 million to build giant off-the-road (OTR) radial tyre manufacturing capability in India under its Ascenso brand, targeting large haul truck and loader sizes used in mining. The expansion aims to move Ascenso from current agricultural and medium OTR ranges into ultra-large mining tyres, a segment dominated by a few global suppliers and frequently constrained by supply shortages. For mine operators, an additional radial supplier from India could ease procurement risk and support localisation strategies in Asian and African projects.

Green Manganese Technologies has completed initial metallurgical test work showing its proprietary hydrometallurgical circuit can recover manganese, nickel, cobalt, and copper from polymetallic nodules in a single integrated process, avoiding Submerged Arc Furnaces, electrolysis, and multi-phase converting. The flowsheet selectively dissolves manganese minerals to release associated critical metals into one solution while converting iron to hematite, creating an additional value stream for iron, titanium, and rare earth elements. Reported recoveries exceed 90% for all four principal metals with energy consumption up to five times lower than conventional pyrometallurgical routes, positioning the process for pilot-scale nodule projects.