New South Wales has approved RZ Resources’ A$693 million Copi mineral sands mine, designed to produce up to 400,000 tonnes of critical mineral ore per year over an 18‑year life from a deposit 75 km northwest of Wentworth. The operation will supply titanium minerals (rutile, leucoxene, ilmenite), premium zircon and rare earths (monazite, xenotime), feeding RZ’s existing mineral separation plant on the Brisbane River, the only major facility of its type on Australia’s east coast. Backing from JX Advanced Metals, Marubeni and prospective US EXIM financing signals strong geopolitical interest in Copi’s role in Quad-aligned supply chains.

ABB has formed a strategic partnership with Point Laz to integrate the Lazaruss™ mine shaft monitoring system into ABB’s mine hoist portfolio, targeting safer and more reliable hoist inspection in deep underground shafts. The collaboration focuses on an integrated service offering that combines continuous shaft condition monitoring with hoist control and maintenance planning, moving inspections away from purely manual, periodic checks. For engineers, this signals growing scope to link hoist performance data with real-time shaft integrity information for earlier detection of lining, guide and conveyance issues.

A resource update at First Phosphate’s Bégin-Lamarche project in northeastern Quebec has lifted indicated resources more than fourfold to 198.5 million pit-constrained tonnes at 6% P2O5, added 6.2 million measured tonnes at 7.7% P2O5, and cut inferred resources to 89.5 million tonnes at 6.16% P2O5 from 68,345 metres of drilling in 276 holes. Metallurgical tests show a 40.4% apatite concentrate, supporting plans for a 10,000‑tonne‑per‑year iron phosphate plant and a proposed phosphoric acid facility near the deep-water Port of Saguenay, 70 km away.