Guardian Metal Resources has formed a tungsten mining and recovery pilot alliance with the Montana Mining Association, Montana Technological University and the US Army Research Laboratory, using 250–400 tonnes of legacy ore from its Tempiute project in Nevada as initial feedstock. Ore will be trucked to a milling and processing facility in Philipsburg, Montana, to test upscaling of tungsten-rich tailings and stockpiles into tungsten metal powder for defence-grade penetrators and other US DoD applications. Guardian recently staked 193 additional claims at Tempiute, expanding its tailings footprint by over 375%, with first ore shipments targeted for late summer 2026 pending metallurgical and pilot-scale test work.

Ferreyros and Caterpillar are deploying Peru’s first underground autonomous loader fleet, introducing CAT R1600H low-profile LHDs with 10.5 t payload capacity at Volcan Compañía Minera operations. The autonomous R1600H units, designed for narrow-vein and low-back mining, will transition from commissioning to full production, integrating with existing underground traffic and manual fleets. For mine planners and engineers, the move signals growing readiness to automate load–haul cycles in constrained headings, with implications for traffic management, communications infrastructure and maintenance strategies.

Global copper supply will need the equivalent of six new world‑class mines every year to 2050 to cover a forecast deficit rising from 2 million tonnes by 2030 to 8 million tonnes by 2035, with data centres alone expected to consume about 500,000 tonnes by decade‑end, mining financier Frank Giustra says. He notes only four undeveloped deposits currently match major‑miner criteria—Copper Giant Resources in Colombia, Solaris Resources in Ecuador, and Aldebaran Resources and McEwen Copper in Argentina—leaving deeper, higher‑cost orebodies as the fallback. Giustra expects higher copper prices and a delayed but aggressive M&A cycle as majors buy de‑risked junior projects at richer valuations.