XCMG is pushing deeper into global mining fleets, with General Manager Zhai Kun and North America Mining Machinery Product Manager Tao Hong outlining expansion plans from CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 in Las Vegas. The company is targeting larger haul truck and hydraulic shovel classes and tailoring models for North American mine standards, including Tier 4 Final/Stage V emissions packages and cold‑climate options. For operators, the message is more competition to established OEMs on ultra‑class equipment procurement, parts support, and localisation of control systems and telematics.
Liebherr-Australia has begun a new partnership with Gold Fields by delivering two R 9600s and one R 9400 hydraulic excavator to the Gruyere Gold Mine in Western Australia’s Yamarna Belt, with units arriving in May and June 2026. The ultra-class R 9600s, typically paired with 220–300 t haul trucks, and the R 9400, usually matched to 140–200 t trucks, signal a step-up in loading capacity for Gruyere’s open-pit fleet. Mine planners and maintenance teams will need to integrate Liebherr’s machine health monitoring and parts support into existing fleet management systems.
African Mining Services, through its AMAX joint venture with Perenti, has agreed an orderly exit from contract mining at AngloGold Ashanti’s Iduapriem open-pit gold mine in Ghana’s Western Region. The transition plan includes the sale of AMS’s on-site mining fleet to AngloGold Ashanti, enabling the owner-operator to assume direct control of load-and-haul and associated pit operations. Contractors and OEMs should expect changes in maintenance, parts supply and future tendering as AngloGold internalises fleet management and mine scheduling.
JordProxa has been selected as technology and equipment partner for Lilac Solutions’ Phase 1 commercial lithium carbonate plant on Utah’s Great Salt Lake, which targets 5,000 t/y of battery-grade lithium carbonate using direct lithium extraction. The partnership covers the downstream conversion process, integrating JordProxa’s thermal and process equipment with Lilac’s ion-exchange DLE system. First lithium production is planned for 2028, signalling a move from pilot-scale brine processing to a full commercial facility in a chemically complex salt-lake environment.
Orica Digital Solutions has opened an Axis Mining Technology Technical Support & Service Centre in North Bay, Ontario, extending on-the-ground backing for its orebody intelligence systems to Canadian and wider North American mines. The facility will support deployment and maintenance of Axis downhole navigation and drillhole survey tools, improving turnaround for calibration, repairs and firmware updates that previously relied on distant service hubs. For geologists and drill and blast teams, closer support should reduce downtime on production and definition drilling and enable more consistent high-precision orebody data.
Cementation Africa is pushing for underground mine dewatering to be designed from the earliest study phases, with hydrogeological investigations embedded in scoping and pre-feasibility work rather than added after shaft sinking. Study Manager Mine Engineering John Goulding stresses that early characterisation of aquifers, inflow rates and pore pressures allows proper sizing and siting of pump stations, sumps and grout curtains, and integration with shaft and decline layouts. For geotechnical and mine planners, this approach reduces unplanned inflows, avoids costly retrofits and supports more reliable ground support and excavation sequencing.
Fenix Resources has secured all regulatory and environmental approvals to develop the Beebyn-W10 iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Mid-West, adjacent to its existing Beebyn-W11 operation, enabling production to start this quarter with first ore shipments targeted for the December quarter. The new pit will be integrated into Fenix’s Mid-West logistics chain, which currently trucks ore to the Geraldton Port export terminal, allowing shared haul roads, crushing infrastructure and port capacity. For mine planners, the proximity of W10 to W11 simplifies geotechnical characterisation and dewatering strategies by leveraging existing pit wall performance and hydrogeological data.
AIC Mines has accelerated the second-stage expansion of its Eloise processing plant in North Queensland by about two years, aiming to lift capacity from 1.1Mtpa to 1.5Mtpa and target up to 27,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2028–29. The fast-tracked upgrade is timed to align with advancing ore supply from the nearby Jericho deposit, where drilling at the Jolly Shoot is returning high-grade copper, gold and silver intercepts. For planners and metallurgists, the move signals earlier demand for additional power, water, tailings capacity and haulage integration between Eloise and Jericho.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia will showcase its EX1200-7 BH hydraulic excavator at QME 2026 in Mackay, ahead of rebranding to LANDCROS in April 2027 while retaining its Japanese manufacturing base. The EX1200-7 BH, a backhoe configured for large-scale overburden and ore loading, targets high-production truck–shovel operations typical of Queensland coal and metalliferous mines. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the launch signals continuity of Hitachi’s existing fleet support under the LANDCROS name, with implications mainly for parts, dealer networks and long-term asset management contracts.
HEPI will use QME 2026 in Mackay to showcase integrated lifecycle solutions that combine its global engineering network with on-site support to extend equipment life and cut unplanned downtime for Bowen Basin mines. The company is focusing on reliability and total cost of ownership for heavy mobile and fixed plant, targeting higher uptime on critical assets such as haul trucks, excavators and processing equipment. For maintenance and asset managers, the pitch centres on engineered upgrades, condition-based maintenance and rebuild strategies to defer capex and stabilise operating costs.
South32 exceeded its 2026 financial year production guidance across several key operations while advancing a portfolio shift towards base metals, including the proposed sale of its aluminium value chain assets. Aluminium output beat guidance by about 1 per cent, with stronger-than-planned performance at Sierra Gorda and other units supporting the result. Capital is being redirected into copper and zinc growth projects, signalling future mine planning, resource allocation and processing upgrades will increasingly prioritise sulphide ore bodies and downstream base metals capacity over alumina and aluminium smelting.
Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition (QME) opens tomorrow at 9:00 am at Mackay Showgrounds, launching three days of exhibits and technical sessions in what is billed as Queensland and Australia’s largest mining event. Now entering its fourth decade in the region, QME is expected to draw miners, OEMs and contractors focused on surface and underground equipment, automation, and mine services. Attendees can use the event to benchmark haulage, processing and maintenance technologies against current site constraints in the Bowen Basin and wider Queensland operations.
Tonly Heavy Industries has signed a framework agreement to supply 800 autonomous mining trucks to Xinjiang Hanxiang, signalling one of China’s largest single deployments of driverless haulage fleets. Announced at the “Intelligent Driving Mines, Launching a New Green Chapter” seminar in Urumqi on 16 July, the deal targets large open-pit operations in Xinjiang, integrating autonomous haulage with mine dispatch and green “intelligent mine” systems. For geotechnical and mine planners, such a fleet size will materially affect haul road design, traffic management, and pit-to-crusher logistics.
Chinese mining truck OEMs are beginning to introduce structured, multi-life rebuild programmes similar to Australian practice, where four to five full truck rebuilds per chassis are now common. The shift aims to extend the service life of large haul trucks well beyond the initial 40,000–60,000 operating hours typically seen in China, moving towards life-of-mine asset strategies. For mine planners and maintenance engineers, this signals growing support for component-level life tracking, planned frame overhauls and higher-availability fleets from Chinese-supplied ultra-class trucks.
Vale’s 2025 Research, Development & Innovation Report sets out its “mine of the future” roadmap, centred on smarter, lower-impact operations across its iron ore and base metals portfolio. The programme combines autonomous haulage and drilling, advanced ore sorting and digital twins with electrification of mobile fleets and fixed plant to cut diesel use and associated emissions. For geotechnical and operations teams, this signals more sensor-dense pits, tighter integration of real-time stability monitoring with fleet control, and design criteria increasingly driven by decarbonisation and automation requirements.
Agnico Eagle’s LaRonde mine in Quebec has become the first underground operation globally to deploy Epiroc’s Diamec Automated Rod Magazine (ARM), a hands-free rod-handling system first unveiled at PDAC 2026 in Toronto. The ARM is being introduced and run by drilling contractor Machines Roger International (MRI) on Diamec core rigs, automating rod loading and retrieval in confined headings. For geotechnical and exploration drilling teams, the system points to reduced manual handling around rotating drill strings and more consistent cycle times on deep underground diamond drilling.
Epiroc President and CEO Helena Hedblom has reaffirmed that the company will offer a full assortment of emission‑free mining equipment by 2030, tied to greenhouse gas reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. The commitment covers battery‑electric alternatives across its core portfolio of underground loaders, trucks and drill rigs, replacing diesel fleets in line with miners’ decarbonisation roadmaps. For mine planners and OEM procurement teams, the timeline signals when large‑scale transitions to electric fleets and associated charging infrastructure will need to be engineered and budgeted.
New Pacific Metals has lifted the Carangas silver-gold project’s after-tax NPV to US$2.65 billion in an updated PEA by Ausenco, outlining average annual output of nearly 18 million oz silver-equivalent over a 19-year mine life at projected all-in sustaining costs of US$19.16/oz. The study, based on US$45/oz silver and US$3,400/oz gold, delivers a 35.9% after-tax IRR, 2.4-year payback on US$644.5 million initial capex, and total production of 339 million silver-equivalent oz including 1.1 million oz gold. New Pacific plans a 30,000-metre infill drill programme while navigating Bolivia’s fuel, FX and permitting constraints.
Energy Transition Minerals claims Greenland has effectively expropriated the Kvanefjeld rare earth project by refusing to renew its exploration licence and applying Act 20’s 100 ppm uranium limit retroactively to block a mining licence lodged in 2020. The company says it has invested about US$150 million since 2013 and argues 2025 drilling identified rare earth mineralisation below the uranium threshold in largely untested parts of the licence, alongside proposals to separate uranium from concentrate and return it underground. Greenland cites community opposition near Narsaq, while ETM pursues arbitration and diversifies with the Penouta brownfield tantalum project in Spain.
The Arctic’s vast copper, nickel, graphite and rare earth deposits will not by themselves secure the energy transition, as long, diesel-dependent supply chains, permafrost, short construction seasons and limited power grids can turn apparently robust orebodies into uneconomic projects. Juan Ignacio Guzmán of GEM Mining Consulting contrasts northern Scandinavia’s rail-linked, renewable-powered districts in Sweden, Finland and Norway with logistics‑constrained projects in northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland that still need ports, roads, processing plants and skilled workforces. He argues that Indigenous rights, rigorous baseline data on water, biodiversity and permafrost, and upfront closure planning now sit alongside grade and tonnage as decisive investment criteria.
Gold is holding near $4,000/oz, with spot at $3,992 in New York and Comex futures back above $4,000, even after a 3% weekly drop and a 29% retreat from January’s ~$5,600 peak amid war-driven oil gains of almost 13% in five sessions and renewed Fed hike bets. Physical demand is weak, with Indian dealers quoting discounts up to $45/oz and Chinese premiums shrinking to par, while gold ETFs shed $8.9 billion in June. Equities are absorbing the real pain: the median leading US-traded gold and copper miner is ~38% below its 52‑week high, with Hecla 58%, Sibanye 62% and Equinox 54% off their peaks, signalling sustained funding and balance-sheet pressure for project pipelines.
China’s physical gold demand stayed near decade lows in June, with Shanghai Gold Exchange withdrawals at 87 tonnes, up 36% on May but still 27% below the 10-year average for H1 2026 as total withdrawals reached 598 tonnes. Jewellery demand weakness is keeping manufacturers from rebuilding inventories even as the gold price holds around $4,013/oz, roughly 8% lower year-to-date. In contrast, the People’s Bank of China added 15 tonnes in June, lifting reserves to 2,346 tonnes, while domestic gold ETFs saw record monthly outflows of RMB 15 billion and a 17-tonne holdings drop to 277 tonnes.
Artificial intelligence is emerging as a third structural driver of rare earth demand alongside defence and electrification, with the five largest hyperscale data-centre operators planning about US$400 billion of 2025 capex and AI data centres forecast by the IEA to consume 3% of magnet rare earths by 2030. Sprott’s Steve Schoffstall links this to China’s control of about 94% of global permanent magnet production and recent Chinese export controls on military-related products. Western responses include US equity support and neodymium-praseodymium price guarantees for MP Materials, plus similar diversification moves in Australia and Japan.
British Columbia and the Simpcw First Nation have signed a consent-based agreement to govern the environmental assessment of Trekor Metals’ Yellowhead copper project in Simpcwul’ecw Territory, the first time Simpcw has applied its Indigenous-led consent process to a major mine. Trekor has submitted a Detailed Project Description to the BC Environmental Assessment Office after early engagement and additional technical work, alongside an economic impact study for construction and operations. The proposed open pit is scoped as a 90,000 t/d operation over 25 years, targeting 178 million lb/y copper at US$1.90/lb cash costs, rising to 206 million lb/y at US$1.62/lb in the first five years.
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