Oxford University spinout Ascension has raised £1.7 million in new funding, combining a £670,490 Innovate UK Growth Catalyst grant with £1 million from UKI2S, Oxford Science Enterprises and East X, bringing total capital raised to £6.2 million. The company’s Selective Recovery programme targets rare earths and other critical minerals in deep volcanic glass, aiming to separate metals in situ and cut surface processing stages. Ascension’s process uses natural geothermal heat in volcanic rock deposits, avoiding excavation, high-temperature surface processing and associated land disturbance.

Holcim UK is deploying 20 LiuGong 870HE pure electric wheel loaders across its quarry fleet, expanding one of the highest-tonnage battery-electric loader deployments in the sector. The 870HE units, among the largest pure electric loaders currently available, are targeted at high-duty quarry loading cycles traditionally dominated by diesel machines. For geotechnical and quarry operators, this signals accelerating adoption of heavy battery-electric equipment for primary load-and-haul, with implications for power supply design, charging infrastructure layout and ventilation requirements in future pit and plant planning.

Gold jumped 1.7% to about $4,887/oz, its highest level since 17 March, after Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, restoring commercial traffic through a corridor that carries roughly 20% of global oil flows. Silver climbed more than 5% to $83/oz, a five-week high, as easing energy-price and inflation fears revived expectations of interest rate cuts that favour non-yielding assets. Analysts at Zaner Metals and MKS PAMP see scope for a move back towards $5,000/oz in the near term, while Goldman Sachs keeps a bullish $5,400/oz year-end target.