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Capital Limited has completed the acquisition of Metres Down Under (MDU), a specialist underground drilling contractor based in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia, giving it an immediate operating foothold in the Australian drilling market. The deal combines Capital’s existing global drilling fleet with MDU’s established underground reverse circulation (RC) capability and local management team in one of the world’s highest-activity hard-rock mining jurisdictions. For mine operators, the move signals increased competition and capacity for underground RC grade control and resource definition in Australian gold and base metal orebodies.

Specim has launched the Specim SX10, a VNIR hyperspectral camera that brings research-grade spectral precision into an integration-ready platform for mining and industrial use. As the second model in the SX series, the SX10 is designed for fast, high-throughput hyperspectral scanning in the visible–near infrared range, targeting advanced ore characterisation and process control applications. The system is aimed at OEMs and integrators needing compact, robust hyperspectral sensors that can be embedded directly into sorting lines, drill-core scanners or conveyor-based inspection systems.

Glencore Technology has validated a new coarse particle flotation application for the Jameson Cell at Glencore’s Antapaccay Tintaya concentrator in Peru, recovering copper-bearing particles from tailings that were previously lost. Pilot test work on the plant’s existing flotation tailings stream showed that the downcomer-based Jameson Cell can selectively float coarse copper sulphide particles that conventional cells struggle to recover. The approach targets declining head grades by extracting additional metal from installed circuits without major changes to primary grinding or rougher-scavenger configurations.

Fulcrum Metals has secured a site in Mississauga, Ontario, for a standalone, multi-project pilot plant and signed a Pilot Scale Demonstration Agreement with Extrakt Process Solutions and Test Design Implement Solutions to trial cyanide-free metal recovery. The programme will test Extrakt’s proprietary process on mine waste streams to recover both precious and critical metals, targeting tailings and low-grade materials that are currently uneconomic. Outcomes will influence future flowsheet design for waste reprocessing projects and permitting strategies for non-cyanide gold circuits in Canada.

Minera Saucito, one of Fresnillo PLC’s highest‑producing silver and gold operations in Mexico, has boosted underground productivity by replacing conventional units with two Atlas Copco XRVS 960E electric air compressors. The E-Air machines, installed deep underground, deliver compressed air via electric drives rather than diesel, cutting operating costs and reducing heat and exhaust loads in confined headings. For mine engineers, the shift supports higher air availability for drilling and bolting while easing ventilation demand and power‑supply planning.

Multotec Zambia is marking its 25th anniversary in 2026 by opening a new Central Africa Regional Head Office that will expand local manufacturing, assembly and service support for the Zambian and regional mining sector. The facility is intended to bring Multotec’s process equipment expertise and technology—such as wear linings, screening media and cyclones—closer to copper and cobalt operations that currently rely heavily on imported or South African-supplied components. For mine operators, increased in-country capacity should shorten lead times for critical spares and enable more responsive on-site technical support.

Atlantic Nickel’s Santa Rita nickel sulphide mine in Bahia, Brazil, delivered a record 12,464 t of nickel concentrate in August, with metallurgical recovery reaching 86.72%, the highest since operations restarted under Appian Capital ownership. The performance comes as the operation advances its transition from open pit to underground mining, signalling stable plant performance and effective ore blending during a complex changeover. For process and mine planners, the numbers suggest current comminution and flotation circuits are coping well with evolving underground feed characteristics.

Advanced Navigation America has opened a US manufacturing facility to scale production of its inertial navigation and robotics systems for GPS-denied underground and surface mines, reducing reliance on vulnerable, legacy GPS-based infrastructure. The plant will build mining-grade INS/IMU units and navigation systems designed to maintain centimetre-level positioning in dust, blast-induced shock and long-haul drifts where satellite signals are unavailable or intermittent. For mine operators, this supports more reliable autonomous haulage, drilling guidance and fleet tracking without installing extensive fixed beacons or repeaters.

Booth Ventures has deployed a 36‑tonne Hyundai HX360L Next Generation crawler excavator at Ravenhead Quarry, supplied by Taylor & Braithwaite, matching the output of a larger predecessor while cutting fuel consumption. The HX360L is being used for primary quarry duties, including overburden removal and loading, where its reduced operating weight and newer engine platform deliver lower fuel cost per tonne moved. For quarry operators, the case points to potential savings from downsizing to more efficient 30–40‑tonne class excavators without sacrificing production rates.

Barton Gold’s latest drilling at the Tunkillia project in South Australia has delivered shallow, high‑grade hits within the planned S1 starter pit, including 11m at 8.73g/t gold from 68m depth with a 2m interval at 36.9g/t. Nearby holes returned 21m at 3.62g/t from 57m, confirming additional mineralisation in the upper 70m that could be accessed by low strip‑ratio open pit methods. For mine planners and geotechs, the results support an expanded starter pit shell and justify closer‑spaced drilling to refine early production schedules and slope designs.

Hammer Metals’ proposed $80.7 million acquisition by Austral Resources Australia will go to a shareholder scheme vote on 9 November after Federal Court approval on 2 October to convene the meeting. The deal would consolidate Hammer’s copper and gold exploration portfolio in Queensland’s Mount Isa region with Austral’s existing copper operations, creating a larger base metals footprint in the district. For miners and investors, the outcome will influence future drilling budgets, regional processing options and potential scale economies in Mount Isa copper projects.

Astral Resources has signed a binding deal to acquire Estrella Resources’ nickel rights across five Spargoville tenements, covering ground Astral describes as potentially critical to the Mandilla gold project development footprint near Kalgoorlie, WA. The consideration is 20 million Astral shares, consolidating control of both gold and nickel over the same tenure and simplifying future pit design, waste dumps and infrastructure placement. For mine planners and geologists, unified rights reduce sterilisation risk and facilitate integrated drilling, resource modelling and potential nickel by-product studies.

Tivan’s proposed $50 million incorporated joint venture for the Molyhil tungsten project in the Northern Territory has advanced towards binding agreements, with partner Sumitomo Corporation preparing to seek Australian foreign investment approval. The JV between Tivan, Sumitomo and ETFS Capital targets execution of long-form agreements in the fourth quarter of 2026, following progress on legal, tax and structural work. For project engineers, the move signals increasing certainty around funding and offtake for Molyhil’s tungsten development pathway.

PC Gold has appointed former Red Back Mining president and CEO Richard Clark as an independent non-executive director, effective immediately, to bolster board capability across discovery, feasibility, financing, construction and production of gold projects. Clark previously led Red Back through the development and expansion of the Chirano and Tasiast gold mines before its US$7.1 billion acquisition by Kinross in 2010, one of the largest gold-sector deals of that period. His appointment signals PC Gold’s intent to accelerate project advancement and de-risk future development decisions.

Future Minerals Forum 2027 will run in Riyadh from 12–14 January under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, led by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIM), with a core theme of “Global Collaboration”. The sixth edition aims to convene governments, miners, OEMs, financiers and downstream manufacturers to address mineral supply resilience across exploration, project development and processing. For engineers and project owners, the event signals continued Saudi focus on large-scale upstream investment and cross-border offtake partnerships in battery, critical and bulk minerals.

ADENCO has completed a design-and-construct upgrade of water infrastructure for Northern Star Resources at the KCGM Mill Expansion Project in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, including modifications to 33 production bores across the Kaltails and Gidji borefields. The works, delivered under RSK ownership, focus on improving borefield reliability and water delivery to the expanded mill, a critical constraint for high-throughput gold processing in the arid Goldfields region. For geotechnical and hydrogeology teams, the project signals ongoing optimisation of long-established dewatering and supply bores rather than greenfield groundwater development.

Surge Battery Metals’ updated prefeasibility study for the Nevada North lithium project in Nevada lifts the after-tax NPV to US$9.81 billion and IRR to 24% at US$24,000/t LCE, while cutting initial stage-one capex to US$2.77 billion and trimming operating costs by about 10% from US$5,243/t. The 42-year, conventional open-pit claystone mine, held 68/32 with Evolution Mining, is designed for non-blasting extraction and on-site production of battery-grade lithium carbonate, averaging 92,250 t/y and peaking at about 111,400 t in year seven. Proven and probable reserves of 218.3 Mt at 3,928 ppm Li (4.56 Mt LCE) underpin a two-stage plant ramping from 55,900 t/y to double capacity, with first production targeted for H2 2031.

Greenland’s government has approved Critical Metals’ mining and closure plans for the Tanbreez heavy rare earths project in southern Greenland, covering mine, processing plants, port and supporting infrastructure through to September 2050 but still requiring separate environmental, marine transport, health and safety and export approvals before construction can begin. The PEA pegs Tanbreez at an after-tax NPV of US$2.1 billion with US$290 million initial capex, initial output of about 85,000 tonnes per year and modular expansion potential to 425,000 tonnes, from a 45-million-tonne resource grading 0.4% TREO. Critical Metals targets first ore in late 2028 or early 2029, has a 15-year offtake for 15% of initial production with REalloys and a US$120-million EXIM Bank financing letter of interest, and is moving to 100% ownership via acquisition of European Lithium’s 7.5% stake.

Rising inventories in London, CME and Shanghai and falling industrial use could flip the silver market from last year’s physical shortage to surplus as early as 2027, with Deutsche Bank’s Daniel Ghali forecasting average prices of about $70/oz in Q2 2027 versus a $120/oz spike at the start of 2026. More than 914 million oz sit in London vaults, including over 300 million oz freely available, up 70% since October 2025, while Deutsche expects solar-sector silver consumption to drop over 20% this year and per-cell use to fall 17% in 2026.

LaFleur Minerals’ latest drilling at the 19,214-hectare Swanson Gold project in Quebec’s Abitibi Belt yielded a standout intercept of 6.05 g/t gold over 8 m in hole SW-26-124 at the Bartec target, the first modern hole there since 1987, but overall continuity across Bartec, Jackson and Jolin remains weak. Jackson returned 1.45 g/t over 7.70 m in SW-26-111 along a 1,200 m mineralised corridor, while Jolin’s SW-26-103 cut 1.77 g/t over 6.45 m. Despite a March 2026 PEA giving Swanson a US$70.8 million NPV and 65% after-tax IRR, LaFleur’s share price has fallen over 18% since 22 September, with Bartec now prioritised for follow-up drilling.

Tanzania has renewed Barrick’s two special mining licences for the North Mara gold mine for 15 years, securing tenure for the combined open-pit/underground operation that produced 249,000 attributable oz. last year and holds 43 Mt of proven and probable reserves at 2.32 g/t for 3.2 Moz. Barrick must lift output from 68,000 oz. in H1 to 132,000–162,000 oz. in H2 to meet 2026 guidance of 200,000–230,000 oz. at targeted AISC of US$1,520–US$1,680/oz., while studying debottlenecking and expansion of the North Mara–Bulyanhulu complex.

Cambria Gold Mines plans to recommission the 2,500 t/d Premier mill in northern British Columbia in Q4 2027, drawing initial underground feed from the Premier, Silver Coin and Big Missouri deposits before adding Red Mountain ore trucked roughly 50 km via Stewart and Hyder. The company has spent C$538 million on the complex since 2021, is drilling Premier on 12.5 m centres, and will install a new crusher, pre-leach thickener, fine-grinding mill and second cyanide-detox tank ahead of Red Mountain processing. A Fisheries Act authorisation now allows reconstruction of the Red Mountain access road along Bitter Creek, while Premier’s water-treatment plant still needs upgrades to consistently meet zinc-discharge limits.

Gold’s recent price rally is being driven mainly by central banks buying on dips as they diversify away from the U.S. dollar, with retail investors still largely absent, veteran mining financier Frank Giustra told The Northern Miner at the Precious Metals Summit in Colorado. Giustra, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Fiore Group, said a major geopolitical or financial shock could pull ordinary investors into the market, fuelling a further leg up. He also expects copper prices to spike before new mine supply arrives and flagged Copper Giant Resources (TSXV: CGNT; US-OTC: CGNRF), where he is a major shareholder.

Westwin Elements will invest $502 million over five years to build a commercial-scale Class 1 nickel refinery at the Belwood Industrial Site in Natchez, Mississippi, targeting 18,000 tonnes per year of output in its first phase with commissioning in 2029. The plant will scale up nickel carbonyl refining technology proven at Westwin’s 20 t/y Lawton, Oklahoma demonstration facility, with a completed Bankable Feasibility Study, a long-term site lease, and binding feedstock and offtake agreements already secured. Located adjacent to Natchez’s inland port and regional transport links, the project is expected to create 134 full-time jobs at an average salary of about $84,000.