Blasting of the central and ventilation portals for the Groundrush Exploration Decline has been completed by Macmahon at the Central Tanami Project Joint Venture (CTPJV) in Australia’s Northern Territory, allowing underground development to move beyond surface boxcuts into fresh rock. Tanami Gold and MGX Resources each hold a 50% interest in the CTPJV, with the decline targeting the Groundrush orebody beneath the historic open pit. Portal establishment now enables installation of initial ground support, services and ventilation infrastructure critical for subsequent long-hole drilling and resource definition.

Chinese OEM Inner Mongolia North Hauler (NHL) has launched the NTE240E, a 240‑tonne payload battery-electric haul truck using a 3,100–4,100kWh pack aimed at large open-pit operations. The truck combines megawatt-level liquid‑cooled DC fast charging with side or top-mounted overhead line current collection, with a dual-gun system designed to take charge from 20% to 90% within a few hours and a brake energy recovery algorithm claimed to be 15% more efficient than industry norms. NHL estimates each unit cuts CO₂ emissions by about 2,000 tonnes per year and is planning hydrogen fuel cell, hybrid and autonomous-ready variants integrated with solar-powered charging and smart dispatch.

New South Wales is moving to pass the Mount Pleasant Mine Bill 2026 to secure up to 400 jobs at MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant open-cut coal operation in the Hunter Valley after legal challenges to its expansion approval. The bill would permit the mine to maintain current production rates and workforce levels through to 2032, effectively decoupling day-to-day operations from the contested expansion. For planners and contractors, this signals continuity of overburden stripping, coal handling and associated haulage contracts on existing pit and infrastructure configurations for at least six more years.