Jevons Robotics has launched the ARTEV1000 Pre-Split System, a battery-electric robotic platform that automates loading of packaged pre-split explosives on highwalls. The system shifts all explosive loading and deployment equipment handling to remote operation, removing personnel from the highwall face and eliminating manual lifting of explosive packages. For drill-and-blast engineers, this points to tighter control of pre-split geometry and reduced exposure during highwall conditioning, especially on benches where ground conditions or scale make conventional manual loading high risk.

BHP and Amazon have launched an “industry-first” pilot to trade credits linked to lower greenhouse gas emissions from copper concentrate and cathodes produced at Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine in Chile. Escondida already sources 100% of its electricity from renewable power contracts and uses desalinated water for processing, reducing Scope 2 emissions intensity relative to conventional operations. The pilot will test traceable, emissions-differentiated copper units in Amazon’s supply chain, signalling potential future premiums and contract structures for low‑carbon copper in OEM and data centre procurement.

Jacobs has been appointed by Germany’s Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) to provide project support for the Konrad Repository in Salzgitter, a low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste facility being developed within existing underground mining structures. The contract covers assessment of construction progress, validation of planning assumptions, schedule and cost plan reviews, and implementation of efficiency improvements under combined mining, nuclear and seismic regulatory constraints. Jacobs will align construction activities, timelines and cost structures with on-site conditions, drawing on experience from Sellafield and Belgian radioactive waste treatment and storage projects.