US recycler Amermin and Ulterra Drilling Technologies are extending their critical minerals recycling partnership to handle Ulterra’s waste streams from Argentina and Canada, on top of existing US volumes. The Texas-based firms already process more than 21 waste streams, including tungsten, cobalt, nickel, manganese, blast media, and synthetic and industrial diamond, and recycled over 1.4 million pounds of Ulterra material in 2025. Amermin is using an $11.5 million US Department of Energy grant to scale processing so end-of-life drilling and tooling inputs can be returned as manufacturing-grade feedstock.

Rio Tinto has reported a near 10 per cent year-on-year increase in copper-equivalent production, driven largely by stronger iron ore output from its Pilbara operations and improved performance at key copper assets. The company pointed to higher plant throughput and more stable rail and port logistics in the Pilbara system, alongside incremental gains from brownfield debottlenecking at existing mines. For mine planners and process engineers, the results signal continued emphasis on incremental productivity gains from established ore bodies rather than major greenfield expansions.

PNG Industrial and Mining Resources Exhibition and Conference (PNG Expo) has confirmed the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) as an association partner for its 2026 event in Port Moresby. The partnership is expected to expand Australian supplier and contractor participation across mine development, processing plants and supporting civil works, particularly in PNG’s gold, copper and LNG-linked infrastructure projects. For geotechnical and mining engineers, this signals stronger cross-border collaboration on equipment standards, contractor capability and project pipelines in Papua New Guinea.