Delivery of two Liebherr R 9600s and one R 9400 hydraulic excavator to Gold Fields’ Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia marks the start of a new OEM–operator partnership for large-scale load-and-haul. The ultra-class R 9600, typically paired with 220–290 tonne haul trucks, will materially increase dig capacity on the mine’s main production faces, while the slightly smaller R 9400 offers more flexible deployment on satellite pits and cutbacks. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the mixed Liebherr fleet introduces new loading geometries, bucket–truck match options, and parts/skills requirements.

PLS delivered record quarterly spodumene concentrate output of 267,600 tonnes from its Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia, a 25 per cent increase driven by the restart of the Ngungaju processing plant. Additional Ngungaju throughput is complementing higher-grade or more consistent feed from the main Pilgan plant, lifting overall plant utilisation early in the 2026–27 financial year. The step-up in concentrate tonnage will pressure mine scheduling, tailings capacity and haulage logistics, and may justify further debottlenecking of crushing and classification circuits.

Nova Minerals has secured final Alaska Department of Natural Resources approvals for its Department of War-funded antimony project, completing permitting for stibnite mining at the Styx and Stibium prospects, ore sorting at the Whiskey Bravo site within the Estelle gold project, and downstream refining at Port MacKenzie. The 42.81-acre Port Mac refinery site near the West Susitna Access Road will produce military-grade antimony trisulfide and grade II antimony metal (>99.65% Sb) from 2027, backed by US$43.4 million in federal funding. All major long-lead mining and processing equipment is already procured and delivered, with flowsheet engineering and metallurgical test work completed.