Record spending from Western Australia’s resources sector has delivered a $166 billion economic contribution, with mining and energy activity now supporting about two in every five jobs across the state. The sector’s direct and indirect employment footprint spans iron ore, LNG, gold and critical minerals operations, with flow-on work for civil contractors, drill and blast crews, maintenance trades and port logistics. For geotechnical and mining engineers, the scale of investment signals continued demand for large open-pit expansions, tailings and waste facility design, and brownfield infrastructure upgrades.

Metso has signed a major agreement to deliver its modular VSF® solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) technology to Southern Peru Copper Corporation, one of the world’s largest copper producers. The package is expected to include Metso’s VSF® SX settlers, mixer–settlers and EW cells, integrated with process control systems to produce high-purity copper cathode from low-grade leach solutions. For process and project engineers, the deal signals continued uptake of large-scale SX-EW circuits in Peru’s heap leach operations, with implications for reagent management, phase disengagement design and long-term cathode quality control.

Liebherr Mining has launched the R 9100 Generation 8, a 100‑tonne class mining excavator positioned between the R 9600 and R 9150 in its large excavator line-up. The R 9100 G8 features an optimised attachment design, updated undercarriage and revised uppercarriage structure aimed at higher digging forces and reduced structural stress in typical hard rock and overburden applications. Liebherr is targeting truck pairings in the 50–65 tonne payload range, signalling a focus on mid-size load-and-haul fleets seeking higher pass-matching efficiency.