Vale and ABB have formed a strategic alliance to deploy advanced automation and AI across Vale’s Brazilian iron ore operations, building on the recently inaugurated Conceição II Model Plant, described as one of the industry’s most advanced processing facilities. The partnership will focus on integrated process control, remote operation and data-driven optimisation of crushing, grinding and beneficiation circuits to lift throughput and energy efficiency while reducing unplanned downtime. For mine planners and plant engineers, this signals wider rollout of ABB digital platforms and control architectures across Vale’s iron ore portfolio.

Emesent has secured a A$2 million CRC-P grant from the Australian Government to develop and commercialise Cortex AI, an open, modular autonomy platform for GPS-denied and underground environments. The system is intended to plug into diverse robotic carriers and mining vehicles, providing navigation, mapping and autonomous operation in stopes, drives and other areas with no GNSS signal. For mine operators, this points to wider deployment of autonomous inspection and mapping workflows in complex voids without relying on proprietary, single-vendor platforms.

Cornish Lithium has secured a £7.2 million UK Government DRIVE35 grant to part-fund a £14.5 million drilling and testing programme at its Cross Lanes geothermal lithium project at Baldhu, near Truro in southwest England. The work will focus on deep geothermal brines, using test wells and flow testing to evaluate lithium concentrations, reservoir productivity and sustainable heat extraction. Results will determine the technical and economic viability of commercial-scale geothermal lithium production in Cornwall, with implications for well design, brine handling and direct lithium extraction process selection.