Sandvik Rock Processing is promoting an engineered-to-order (ETO) model for crushing and screening circuits, with Vice-President Sales Area Africa Tarynn Yatras saying bespoke plant layouts are built around each site’s ore characteristics, throughput targets and footprint constraints. The ETO approach allows integration of complex equipment such as multi-deck screens, cone crushers and surge bins into brownfield comminution lines, rather than relying on catalogue configurations. For engineers, this means earlier geometallurgical input, tighter control of transfer chutes and bin capacities, and fewer bottlenecks at primary and secondary crushing stages.

Tailings retreatment of legacy tailings storage facilities is emerging as a major opportunity, with SLR Consulting’s Asset Transition and Closure lead Danie Otto pointing to rapid shifts in project scale, processing technology and regulatory expectations. Operators are reassessing old TSFs as potential ore sources, using modern reprocessing circuits and improved metal recovery techniques to extract residual value while reducing long-term geotechnical and water-related liabilities. The approach is reshaping closure planning, with TSF stability, residue re-deposition strategies and progressive rehabilitation now integrated into upfront project design.

Sandvik and Rio Tinto are jointly developing integration of Sandvik i-series surface drill rigs with the Rio Tinto Autonomous Drilling System (Rio Tinto ADS™), initially targeting support drilling in open pits. The work couples Rio Tinto’s existing autonomous and remote drilling operations with Sandvik’s AutoMine® automation platform to create a common control and data interface. For mine operators, the move signals future options to standardise autonomous blasthole and support drilling fleets across mixed-vendor rigs, with potential reductions in manual exposure around highwall support and pre-split drilling.