Yancoal Australia has acquired an 80 per cent interest in the Kestrel underground metallurgical coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin by purchasing 100 per cent of Kestrel Coal Group for an upfront US$1.85 billion cash consideration, subject to completion adjustments. The deal gives Yancoal control over a longwall operation producing premium hard coking coal linked to existing rail and port infrastructure at Gladstone. For geotechnical and mining teams, the acquisition signals continued investment in deep, high-capex underground coal with sustained demand for longwall support, strata control and ventilation expertise.

TAKRAF Group is upgrading flotation performance with its DELKOR BQR MAXGen cells, using optimised hydrodynamics and improved bubble–particle interaction to boost recovery from increasingly complex ore bodies while cutting energy use. The MAXGen design focuses on controlled air dispersion, high shear zones and stable froth conditions to improve fine particle attachment and reduce reagent consumption. For brownfield concentrators, retrofitting these cells into existing circuits offers a relatively low-footprint route to higher metallurgical performance without major layout changes.

Texas startup Supra Elemental Recovery has secured a Phase I SBIR contract from the US Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency to advance scandium recovery from North American industrial byproducts using its proprietary chemical separation platform. Spun out of the University of Texas at Austin, Supra applies peer-reviewed separation technologies directly at mining and industrial sites to selectively recover rare earth elements and other critical minerals from existing feedstocks. The project will test feasibility and scalability for high‑purity scandium production, targeting onshore resources to reduce total US reliance on imported scandium.