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Coda Minerals has raised an oversubscribed $6.7 million placement, led by Cumulus Wealth and Leeuwin Wealth, to fast‑track technical work at its Elizabeth Creek copper–cobalt project in South Australia’s Olympic Copper Province ahead of a pre‑feasibility study. Funds will support metallurgical lock‑cycle testwork, hydrogeological investigations and approvals, targeting better definition of copper and cobalt recoveries and groundwater behaviour. The programme is aimed at de‑risking process design and water management assumptions before committing to larger‑scale engineering and capital decisions.

Greatland Resources has approved the final investment decision for its Havieron gold–copper project in Western Australia and secured a $500 million corporate debt facility underwritten by a Tier 1 syndicate including ANZ, ING, HSBC, NAB and Westpac. The package comprises a $250 million term loan and additional liquidity lines to fund mine development, underground infrastructure and associated processing upgrades at the newly acquired Telfer operation. For engineers and contractors, the decision signals imminent ramp-up of decline advance, stoping development and integration of Havieron ore into Telfer’s existing plant flowsheet.

The Northern Territory has declared Arafura Rare Earths’ $1.6 billion Nolans rare earths project its first “Significant Project” under the new Territory Coordinator Act, embedding it in the Territory’s critical minerals strategy. The status provides a whole‑of‑government coordination pathway to streamline complex approvals and interface risks while retaining normal environmental and regulatory assessment. For project engineers and contractors, this signals political backing for progressing mine, concentrator and downstream processing infrastructure near Alice Springs on an accelerated but scrutinised schedule.

Western Australia’s resources sector delivered $226 billion in mineral and petroleum sales in 2025, a decade-high investment year driven by record iron ore export volumes and all-time high gold revenue from operations such as the Super Pit. The sector supported more than 136,000 full-time equivalent on-site mining jobs, signalling sustained demand for mine development, brownfield expansions and associated infrastructure. Contractors can expect continued workload in pit optimisation, haul road upgrades and processing plant debottlenecking as operators push existing iron ore and gold assets harder.

Hillhead 2026 at Hillhead Quarry, Buxton will run from 23–25 June with more than 620 exhibitors, four live demonstration areas and over 50 scheduled demos, including a curated Quarry Face programme hosted by broadcaster Nikki Dean and a fleet of 35+ machines working across three benches. Major OEMs such as Hyundai, CASE, JCB, Komatsu, Hitachi, DEVELON, Volvo CE, SBM, Wirtgen and Pilot Crushtec will run live trials of new kit including the TwisterTrac VS350E mobile VSI, REMAX 600/JAWMAX 450 plants and all‑electric Mobirex MR 100 NEOe. An AI planning tool powered by Exhibitly will generate personalised itineraries, helping visitors target specific technologies such as battery‑electric loaders and excavators, AI-based safety systems like Parksafe’s Zone AI, and intelligent tyre monitoring from Continental.

Zijin Gold’s proposed C$5.5 billion (about $4 billion) cash acquisition of Allied Gold is facing delays at China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which is questioning the roughly 5% premium and jurisdictional risks tied to Allied’s African assets. The deal would add the Sadiola mine in Mali, a large Côte d’Ivoire complex and the Kurmuk project in Ethiopia, with the first two delivering nearly 380,000 oz of gold in 2025 and Kurmuk due to pour first gold this year. Allied’s market value sits around C$4.4 billion and the outside closing date has been pushed to end-July.

Sean Carr Lining Technology has completed construction of a lined storage lagoon for underground water from planned lithium exploration in Cornwall, a key enabling asset while the project awaits its Final Investment Decision. The lagoon is designed to hold pumped mine water prior to processing, allowing controlled management of flow rates and water quality during test and early-stage extraction. For geotechnical and civil teams, the milestone fixes the site’s hydraulic management concept and de-risks subsequent drilling, treatment plant foundations and environmental permitting.

New drilling at Group Eleven Resources’ PG West project in Ireland has extended high-grade mineralisation at the Ballywire discovery, with hole 26-3552-57 cutting 62.5 m from 329 m depth grading 2.9% Zn, 2.7% Pb and 25 g/t Ag, including 11.8 m at 3.3% Zn, 10.1% Pb and 45 g/t Ag. Backed by C$12 million raised in March from investors including Glencore (13% stake) and Michael Gentile (14%), the company has expanded its PG West drilling campaign from 20,000 m to 67,000–75,000 m using four rigs. Mineralisation comprises sphalerite, galena and pyrite with local chalcopyrite and suspected tennantite-tetrahedrite, now traced along a ~1.5 km massive sulphide corridor.

America’s rapid “mineral awakening”, argued by Brian Paes‑Braga, CEO of The Metals Royalty Company (Nasdaq: TMCR), is driven by dependence on foreign processing, with China now handling roughly 70% of global energy‑related critical minerals and 98% of primary gallium. The US was fully import‑dependent for 16 non‑fuel minerals in 2025, while an F‑35 needs about 900 lb of rare earths and a hyperscale AI data centre can require up to 50,000 tonnes of copper, exposing defence and grid resilience to external chokepoints.

Petra Diamonds is placing its Finsch mine in South Africa into business rescue, suspending capital development and starting consultations on workforce reductions across operations as realised prices slump to about $47/ct at Finsch and $81/ct at Cullinan, down from $56/ct and $109/ct in Q3. Management cites a structural decline in prices for smaller stones (Finsch mainly produces ≤2 ct goods and contributed 34% of FY2025 revenue), growing lab-grown competition and a strong rand, and has withdrawn 2026–2030 production guidance while it reworks its plan around high-value Type II output at Cullinan. The company has secured lender consent to avoid covenant defaults but warned of possible liquidity breaches later in 2026, with Petra’s market capitalisation now about £42 million after the share price fell 17% to 11p.

Military Metals’ share price fell as much as 60% to C$0.16 after Slovakia’s Ministry of the Environment revoked its exploration licence for the Trojarova antimony-gold project near Bratislava, which the company says was cancelled “without appropriate justification”. Trojarova, interpreted as a continuation of the historic Pezinok mine, carries a Soviet-era resource of 415,000 tonnes grading 0.162% Sb and 1.148 g/t Au based on underground exploration. The licence had been within Slovakia’s designated exploration areas under the EU critical raw materials framework, raising questions over regulatory risk for antimony supply projects in the region.

Deep Sea Minerals (CSE: SEAS) has applied to uplist to the Nasdaq, which would make it the third seabed exploration company on the exchange alongside The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC) and Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq: OMEX), pushing its share price to a record C$1.79 and valuing it at just over C$80 million. The Vancouver-based firm currently has no active projects but is targeting polymetallic nodule concessions in the 4.5‑million‑sq‑km Clarion–Clipperton Zone (3,500–6,000 m water depth) and the Cook Islands EEZ, where nodules are estimated at 21 billion tonnes and 6.7 billion tonnes respectively. For mining strategists, the move signals another capital-markets vehicle positioning early for potential future access to large-scale subsea nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese resources pending regulatory pathways in the Pacific.

Pulsar Helium has bought 1,360 acres of surface land at its 100%-owned Topaz project in Lake County, Minnesota, from Wolf Lands Inc. for $2.48 million, securing the JS#7 (Jetstream #7) well site and other key infrastructure locations directly above its leased mineral rights. The company now controls surface access over the core discovery area as it tenders for up to four new production wells to complement two production-ready wells, supported by newly enacted Minnesota helium-specific permitting legislation signed on 26 May.

Evonik has formed a strategic partnership with the School of Mining at the University of Guanajuato in Mexico to develop next‑generation sustainable, lower‑toxicity reagents for mineral processing. The collaboration centres on Evonik’s biosurfactant platform, targeting replacement of conventional petrochemical surfactants in flotation and related unit operations to cut ecotoxicity and improve biodegradability. For mine operators, this points to future options for meeting stricter water‑quality and tailings‑discharge limits without major flowsheet changes.

Tharisa Minerals has deployed an advanced adaptive wireless network across its South African open-pit mine in partnership with hybrid ICT integrator Datacentrix, creating what it calls a highly connected, data-driven operation. The Africa-first solution replaces legacy, patchy communications with a mine-wide, high-bandwidth wireless backbone designed to support real-time fleet telemetry, high-resolution condition monitoring and IP-based voice and video. For geotechnical and mining engineers, the infrastructure enables faster dispatch decisions, tighter drill-and-blast control and more reliable data capture from mobile equipment and in-pit monitoring systems.

Metso has inaugurated an expanded Service Centre and a new Training Centre in Mesa, Arizona, combining OEM‑level maintenance for crushers, mills and screens with a purpose‑built classroom and hands‑on training facility in a single site. The Mesa hub is positioned to support large copper and gold operations across the US Southwest, reducing overhaul lead times by keeping critical component repairs and rebuilds closer to mine sites. Co‑located training on Metso equipment and digital tools should help standardise maintenance procedures and improve asset availability for regional fleets.

Sandvik Mining has secured ISO/IEC 27001 certification for its global IT application delivery after an independent external audit of its Information Security Management System. The accreditation covers mission‑critical digital business capabilities supporting mining operations, including protection of operational data, system availability and integrity for fleet management, automation and remote monitoring platforms. For mine operators relying on Sandvik’s connected equipment and cloud‑hosted services, the certification provides a defined, audited framework for risk management, access control and incident response in line with the leading international information security standard.

Brightstar Resources has intersected multiple zones of visible gold in deep diamond drilling at the Two Mile Hill deposit, strengthening the case for underground development at its Sandstone gold project in Western Australia. The adjacent Two Mile Hill–Shillington system hosts a combined JORC mineral resource of 753,000 ounces at 1.5 grams per tonne gold, with the new intersections extending mineralisation at depth. Results point to potential for higher-grade underground stopes beneath the current open-pit shells, which could materially change mine design and scheduling.

China’s April 2025 export licensing rules on several medium and heavy rare earth categories immediately disrupted supply to defence, energy and automotive manufacturers, with buyers scrambling for non‑Chinese oxides, metals and magnets. The later delay of a second control round has given Australian and US developers a short window to advance mine, concentrator and separation projects, including hydrometallurgical plants capable of producing NdPr, Dy and Tb products to specification. Engineers are now prioritising logistics corridors, power and reagent supply, and waste and tailings infrastructure sized for multi‑decade rare earth operations.

Exploration activity across Australia remains strong, with Aureka, Stelar Metals and Western Mines Group all advancing drilling and field programmes targeting gold, tungsten and nickel. Aureka has started an infill diamond drilling campaign at the St Arnaud Comstock project in Victoria to upgrade resource confidence, signalling a move towards more detailed geological modelling and potential resource estimation. Parallel work by Stelar Metals and Western Mines Group on tungsten and nickel prospects points to continued funding and technical focus on critical and battery metals exploration.

Sale of the Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia has entered its final phase, with M Resources and India’s Jindal Steel shortlisted as bidders while BlueScope Steel holds a right of last offer over the asset. The outcome will shape future investment in Whyalla’s integrated blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace operation and associated port and rail logistics, which are critical for regional iron ore value-adding. For miners and contractors, ownership changes could alter coke, pellet and scrap demand profiles and influence local steel supply for major infrastructure projects.

Three developments this week show Australian critical minerals projects are now tightly bound to geopolitics, with the Quad partnership (Australia, US, Japan, India) pushing diversification of lithium, rare earths and other supply chains away from China. New trade and national security settings are shaping project finance, offtake agreements and processing locations, particularly for downstream refining of rare earth oxides and battery precursors. For miners, permitting, capital access and long-term contracts increasingly depend on alignment with allied strategic and diplomatic priorities, not just ore grades and IRRs.

Bridgestone has launched three underground mining tyre lines – VMNT, VMDL and VMMS – engineered for abrasive rock, high moisture and continuous-duty load–haul–dump and underground truck cycles. The designs target longer wear life and reduced heat build-up under low-ventilation conditions typical of deep mines, aiming to cut tyre change-outs and unplanned stoppages. For mine operators, the range signals more options for matching tyre compounds and carcass designs to specific underground duty profiles rather than adapting surface-mine products.

Cameco has restored full production at the McArthur River uranium mine and Key Lake mill in northern Saskatchewan after flooding earlier in May partially collapsed the Smoothstone River bridge, severing the main haul route between the two sites. Key Lake output was halted on 10 May and McArthur River activity reduced, with weight and traffic limits on an alternate road constraining deliveries of operating supplies. The company is working with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways on permanent access restoration and is maintaining its 2026 production guidance of 19.5–21.5 million lb U₃O₈.