Elizabeth Gaines will resign as executive director of Fortescue after 13 years with the iron ore major, including four years as chief executive officer. During her CEO tenure she oversaw the ramp-up of the 30–40Mtpa Eliwana mine and rail project in the Pilbara and advanced the 22Mtpa Iron Bridge magnetite project towards production. Her departure signals further leadership transition as Fortescue pursues its green hydrogen and decarbonisation strategy alongside its core hematite export business.

NEXT Cooling South Africa has secured a contract to design and supply a four-cell fibre reinforced polyester (FRP) condenser cooling tower for a Tanzanian gold mine, forming part of a central refrigeration plant expansion led by BBE Group. The package includes all cooling tower internals, including process piping, high-surface-area fill and drift eliminators, indicating a fully engineered thermal and hydraulic solution rather than a shell-only supply. For mine operators, the FRP construction points to reduced corrosion risk and lower structural weight compared with conventional steel or concrete towers, easing installation and long-term maintenance.

Technology trials in mining are being reframed from simple proof of concept (PoC) exercises – which only test whether a tool works technically, such as an AI drill-optimisation algorithm or a new fleet-management platform – to proof of value (PoV) programmes that quantify impacts on KPIs like cost per tonne, unplanned downtime, and recovery. PoV design typically hard-wires baselines, control groups, and production-scale timeframes into trials, rather than short, isolated pilots on a single loader or crusher line. For engineers, the shift means specifying measurable value hypotheses up front and integrating trials with existing dispatch, SCADA, and planning systems.