HazardProof is a specialist electrical engineering services firm formed by Chris and Olivia Mapleson in 2024 to integrate hazardous area compliance into the full design and delivery cycle of mining projects. The company focuses on aligning high-voltage and low-voltage installations, switchrooms and process plant electrics with AS/NZS hazardous area classifications, zoning and equipment protection levels as mine infrastructure is upgraded or expanded. For operators, the model reduces rework during brownfield modifications and helps keep critical power and control systems compliant as standards and site layouts change.

Faster mine approvals hinge on resolving key technical, environmental and social questions much earlier in project planning, with BBA urging proponents to integrate geotechnical design, water management and community impact workstreams from the outset. The firm points to bottlenecks such as late-stage tailings storage facility concept changes and incomplete baseline hydrogeological data that trigger regulator queries and schedule slippage. For engineers, this means front-loading trade-off studies, closure concepts and cumulative effects assessments rather than deferring them to feasibility or permitting stages.

AngloGold Ashanti will invest up to $900 million in brownfield expansions at Geita in Tanzania, Siguiri in Guinea, Cuiabá in Brazil and the ramp-up at Obuasi in Ghana, targeting an extra 300,000–450,000 oz/y of gold by 2030 and real IRRs above 35% by leveraging existing shafts, plants and infrastructure. Geita will take as much as $580 million to lift output to 600,000 oz/y, with Cuiabá receiving $200–250 million for roughly 75,000 oz/y more and Siguiri $70 million for about 100,000 oz/y. Q3 2026 EBITDA rose 12% year-on-year to $1.568 billion on an average realised gold price of $4,239/oz, while all-in costs climbed to $1,534/oz and a fatal rockfall occurred at the Sukari underground mine in August.