BHP has awarded Worley study and EPCM contracts for planned expansion projects at the Olympic Dam underground copper-uranium mine and the Carrapateena sub-level cave operation in South Australia, both still subject to BHP final investment decisions. The work covers front-end studies through detailed engineering, procurement and construction management to support BHP’s Copper South Australia growth strategy. For geotechnical and mining teams, the contracts signal upcoming demand for cave design optimisation, shaft and materials handling upgrades, and brownfield integration around existing underground infrastructure.

Metso will supply the first commercial-scale DRI Smelting Furnace plant to Eti Bakir’s Mazidagi integrated fertiliser and metal complex in Türkiye, targeting higher metal recovery from leach residues. The major order covers furnace technology, associated process equipment and engineering, building on Metso’s existing partnership with Eti Bakir at the site. By treating leach residue in a dedicated smelting line rather than stockpiling or conventional disposal, the project aims to recover additional metal units and cut the operation’s overall environmental footprint.

Surface reliability issues in drill rig breakout and rotation systems are being traced less to inadequate material hardness and more to surface engineering and load-path design, according to MASPRO’s field work on high-load components. MASPRO’s engineering team reports premature failures on rigs operating under continuous, shift-by-shift high torque and axial loads, where surface treatments and contact geometries, rather than bulk wear, govern life. For maintenance and design engineers, the findings point to closer scrutiny of surface finish, residual stress and lubrication regimes before simply specifying harder alloys.