China’s Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Corporation (XEMC) is reporting sustained demand for its ultra-class, fully battery-electric rigid mining trucks, positioning them alongside early deployments such as Caterpillar’s 793 XE “Early Learner” units in the US and Australia and Hitachi’s EH4000 battery trolley fleet at FQM’s Kansanshi mine. XEMC’s trucks target the >220 t payload class traditionally dominated by diesel and diesel–electric haulage. For mine planners and geotechnical teams, large-scale adoption of such full-battery fleets will drive changes in pit ventilation design, ramp power distribution, and haul road geometry around charging or swap stations.

Engineered transfer points are becoming central to plant performance as mines push higher throughput, with Weba Chute Systems’ Technical Director Dewald Tintinger warning that poorly designed chutes can disproportionately constrain material flow and equipment life. Misaligned or under-designed chutes accelerate liner wear, increase blockages and spillage, and drive up dust emissions, directly affecting conveyor availability and downstream crushers and screens. Better-controlled flow paths and impact angles at transfer points are now being used as a primary lever for debottlenecking existing plants without major capital upgrades.

SSH Group Ltd has signed a binding agreement to acquire Elphinstone Mechanical Services (EMS), a long-established mechanical services provider to major mining operations, in a deal it expects to be immediately earnings and margin accretive. The move expands SSH’s national footprint and strengthens its ability to deliver integrated mining services under its existing operating model, particularly for large-scale mobile and fixed plant maintenance. For mine operators, the combined business signals broader single-contractor options for mechanical support, shutdowns and on-site service coverage across multiple regions.