AusIMM’s 17th Mill Operators Conference will convene leading metallurgical and processing specialists later this year to focus on boosting plant performance, tightening operational discipline and deploying new technologies across Australian concentrators. Sessions will centre on practical optimisation of grinding and classification circuits, debottlenecking existing mills and integrating advanced process control and digital monitoring into brownfield plants. For plant managers and process engineers, the event signals strong peer focus on throughput gains, energy efficiency and more disciplined operating strategies in mineral processing.

Steadright Critical Minerals has secured a mining licence for its TitanBeach titanium project in Morocco, covering an approved core area of roughly 4 km by 4 km (about 16 km²) within a wider 192 km² tenure. 2025 exploration identified ilmenite, titanomagnetite, magnetite, leucoxene and rutile-bearing sands with Fe₂O₃ grades up to 79.5% and TiO₂ up to 14.9%. The licence, issued via NSM Capital Sarl in which Steadright holds 76.5%, is described as unusually large for Morocco and positions the project for detailed resource drilling and process testwork on heavy mineral sands.

A new Critical Minerals in Ores – Mineral Chemistry database (CMiO-MIN), developed under the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative partnership led by Geoscience Australia, compiles global mineral chemistry data to map how critical elements occur within ore minerals. The resource integrates mineral-scale compositional data across multiple deposit types and jurisdictions, giving explorers and survey agencies a consistent framework to compare occurrences and refine targeting models. For geoscientists and miners, it should sharpen geometallurgical predictions, improve resource assessments and support long-term supply planning for critical minerals.