Blasting of the central and ventilation portals for the Groundrush Exploration Decline has been completed by Macmahon at the Central Tanami Project Joint Venture (CTPJV) in Australia’s Northern Territory, allowing underground development to move beyond surface boxcuts into fresh rock. Tanami Gold and MGX Resources each hold a 50% interest in the CTPJV, with the decline targeting the Groundrush orebody beneath the historic open pit. Portal establishment now enables installation of initial ground support, services and ventilation infrastructure critical for subsequent long-hole drilling and resource definition.

Weir has launched the ENDURON Optimil vertical stirred mill to cut energy use and operating costs in fine and ultra-fine grinding circuits as ore grades fall and power prices rise. The mill uses a vertical, high-intensity stirred design with a small footprint, targeting regrind and tertiary duties where conventional ball mills struggle with efficiency. For process engineers, the key play is retrofitting into existing circuits to reduce specific energy consumption per tonne and improve grind size control without major layout changes.

New South Wales is moving to pass the Mount Pleasant Mine Bill 2026 to secure up to 400 jobs at MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant open-cut coal operation in the Hunter Valley after legal challenges to its expansion approval. The bill would permit the mine to maintain current production rates and workforce levels through to 2032, effectively decoupling day-to-day operations from the contested expansion. For planners and contractors, this signals continuity of overburden stripping, coal handling and associated haulage contracts on existing pit and infrastructure configurations for at least six more years.