Consent from the Nyangumarta People for Rio Tinto’s proposed Winu copper–gold mine in Western Australia clears a key approvals hurdle as the project targets first copper by 2030. The project agreement between the Nyangumarta Warrarn Aboriginal Corporation and Rio Tinto covers the mine and associated infrastructure on Nyangumarta Country, including access corridors and services. For project teams, the deal provides a framework for land access, cultural heritage management and scheduling of early works, enabling more detailed mine design and infrastructure planning to proceed.

Tungsten Mining’s Watershed project in Far North Queensland is now fully permitted for mining and production, with all primary approvals secured, including its Environmental Authority and Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan. The company is targeting a final investment decision later in 2026 on the 100 per cent-owned tungsten deposit, which is positioned as a long-life open-pit operation. Full permitting de-risks project scheduling for mine development, tailings and waste landforms, and staged rehabilitation, giving contractors and financiers clearer visibility on execution and closure obligations.

Gateway Mining is preparing first-pass air core drilling in early October over its newly defined 3km-long Pewy gold target within the Yandal gold project in Western Australia, testing a major untested structural corridor immediately south of the Ward prospect. The programme will focus on shallow AC holes to map oxide and transported cover geochemistry across the full strike length, aiming to vector towards primary bedrock mineralisation. For geologists and mine planners, results will clarify structural controls and help prioritise follow-up RC or diamond drilling in the broader Yandal belt.