BHP has entered a $US2 billion ($A3 billion) agreement with Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock, to inject new capital into its Pilbara iron ore operations centred on Port Hedland. The deal targets brownfield infrastructure such as export terminals, rail links and associated materials handling assets that move more than 280 million tonnes per annum of iron ore from inland mines to deepwater berths. For geotechnical and civil contractors, the structure signals sustained demand for port dredging, rail formation upgrades and heavy-duty pavement and foundation works in the Pilbara.

Madison Technologies is deploying industrial-grade networking to keep remote, renewable microgrids online at Australian mine sites exposed to heat, dust and vibration that routinely defeat standard IT hardware. Its solutions combine hardened Ethernet switches, fibre backbones and wireless links to connect pit operations, processing plants and accommodation villages into a single operational technology network. For engineers, the focus is on deterministic communications for SCADA, power management and condition monitoring, with designs that tolerate brownouts, electrical noise and long cable runs typical of large open-cut operations.

Fluor Corporation has secured the engineering, procurement and integrated construction management (EPCM) contract for Teck Resources’ Highland Valley Copper Mine Life Extension (HVC MLE) project near Logan Lake, British Columbia. The undisclosed-value award, booked in Fluor’s third-quarter results, covers brownfield works to sustain one of Canada’s largest open-pit copper-molybdenum operations beyond its current mine plan. Geotechnical and civil scopes are expected to centre on pit pushbacks, tailings and water management upgrades, and plant debottlenecking to support extended ore throughput.