Tharisa Minerals has fired the inaugural underground blast at its Bushveld Complex chrome and PGM operation, initiating the transition from open pit to underground mining scheduled from 31 March 2026. Cementation Africa, the contracting partner, will be central to developing the new underground infrastructure, including access declines and associated services, to extend mine life and access deeper ore. The shift will alter geotechnical design demands, ventilation and ground support requirements, and could change the mine’s stripping ratio and cost profile over the medium term.

GR Engineering has secured an EPC contract from Northparkes Mining Services, a subsidiary of Evolution Mining, to deliver a Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) project at the Northparkes copper-gold operation, 300 km west of Sydney, New South Wales. The project will retrofit CPF into the existing concentrator, targeting recovery of coarser sulphide particles that currently bypass conventional flotation circuits. For process engineers, the key change is integration of new CPF cells and associated regrind, pumping and classification modifications into a brownfield plant while maintaining throughput.

Saturn Metals has reported new high-grade gold intercepts at its Apollo Hill project in Western Australia and appointed Ausenco to complete a scoping study for a standalone gold operation. The work will assess processing options for the large, low-grade Apollo Hill resource using Ausenco’s gold plant design expertise, including trade-offs around throughput, recoveries and capital intensity. For mine planners and geotechs, the study outcome will shape pit shell optimisation, cut-off grade strategy and geotechnical design parameters for a potential new open pit development in the Eastern Goldfields.