SANY is targeting Saudi Arabia’s mining sector with China-built wide body haul trucks, despite a marked slowdown in local construction megaprojects. The company is promoting its SKT130S 90 t class diesel–electric hybrid mining truck as a fit for large open pits and quarry operations, where wide body designs can reduce unit haulage costs on short, high‑throughput routes. For mine planners and fleet engineers, the move signals growing competition to conventional 100–150 t rigid trucks in Gulf markets, with potential implications for haul road design and maintenance strategies.

Komatsu and subsidiary EARTHBRAIN have formed a strategic partnership with AIM Intelligent Machines to deploy autonomous operation technology on bulldozers and hydraulic excavators in Japan and the US. AIM’s retrofit autonomy stack, already used on dozers for automatic blade control and path following, will be integrated with Komatsu’s machine control platforms and site management systems. For mine and heavy civil contractors, the move signals faster access to OEM-supported autonomy on existing fleets, with particular relevance for bulk earthworks, overburden stripping and repetitive grading tasks.

Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia delivered a record 879,500 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in FY26, a 17 per cent increase on FY25 and above production guidance. Annual sales volumes also rose 17 per cent, signalling strong offtake demand for Pilgangoora’s concentrate blend and sustained utilisation of its processing circuits. For mine planners and process engineers, the uplift confirms stable pit sequencing, plant availability and logistics capacity at a time of volatile lithium pricing.