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Hungary has detained seven Ukrainian nationals and seized about $40 million, €35 million and 9 kg of gold bars (roughly $1.5 million) from two armoured vehicles travelling from Austria to Ukraine in what officials called the “Ukrainian gold convoy operation”. Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó linked the funds to a “Ukrainian war mafia”, noting that since January Ukrainians have moved an estimated $900 million, €420 million and 146 kg of gold through Hungary, triggering a money-laundering probe with counter‑terrorism involvement. Kyiv says the detainees are Oschadbank staff conducting a routine interbank transfer because Ukraine’s airspace is closed, and has opened criminal proceedings against Hungary for “illegal deprivation of liberty”.

Indigenous equity stakes in Canadian resource projects are being pushed by the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) as a practical route to faster mine and energy permitting, with CEO Mark Podlasly arguing that ownership aligns community rights with project economics. FNMPC, now representing 186 First Nations, has supported deals such as a collective 10% stake in the 670 km Coastal GasLink pipeline and ~50% Indigenous equity in multiple electricity transmission lines, and is advising an early-stage lithium project in northern Ontario. With Ottawa’s Major Projects Office targeting two‑year approvals for major mining and energy schemes, Podlasly contends that Indigenous co-investors are far less likely to litigate or oppose projects that embed their environmental and economic priorities.

Jon Whelan has been appointed chair of the Austroads Board, bringing four decades’ experience with the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport, where he is currently Chief Executive. Starting his career in a pavements laboratory, Whelan has a technical background in road materials and surfacing performance as well as network-level transport planning. His leadership is likely to influence future Austroads guidance on pavement design, asset management and multi-modal transport standards across Australian and New Zealand road agencies.

The Northern Territory Government has expanded its critical minerals guide to include bismuth, iron ore, lead, silver, uranium and now gold, signalling broader strategic support beyond traditional battery and rare earth commodities. Inclusion in the guide typically unlocks streamlined permitting pathways, targeted geoscience data and promotional backing for listed projects, which could materially affect exploration economics across the Territory. For geotechnical and mining engineers, the shift suggests increased demand for feasibility studies, resource definition drilling and mine design in both precious and bulk commodity deposits.

Ontario is shifting its critical minerals strategy away from a pure EV focus towards defence and aerospace, adding high-purity iron ore and aluminium to its critical minerals list, which now totals 35 commodities. Major EV-linked projects are being delayed or reprofiled, including Honda’s roughly $15‑billion EV and battery complex pushed back about two years, Ford’s $2‑billion Oakville plant reverting to Super Duty trucks, and GM suspending BrightDrop van output at the $1‑billion‑retooled CAMI plant. Toronto is also bidding to host a NATO‑backed international defence bank, with Ontario targeting a revised critical minerals strategy by 2027 after new consultations with industry and First Nations.

Payment reform in UK construction comes under renewed scrutiny as barrister Rudi Klein, former chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group, joins the Re:Construction podcast to assess progress on fairer cashflow for the supply chain. Klein focuses on persistent late payment, abuse of project bank accounts and the impact of long payment terms on specialist contractors delivering M&E, civils and geotechnical packages. For engineers and subcontractors, the discussion signals continuing commercial risk around working capital and contract administration on major projects.

Canada’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson says the new Major Projects Office will deliver “conditions documents” for major mines within two years of referral, aiming to make Canada the fastest G20 jurisdiction on permitting while coordinating “one project, one review” across federal and provincial regulators. Priority files include Foran Mining’s McIlvenna Bay copper project in Saskatchewan, Canada Nickel’s planned build in Ontario, Northcliff’s tungsten project in New Brunswick, Nouveau Monde Graphite in Quebec, and the Red Chris expansion in B.C. backed by Newmont and Imperial Metals. Ottawa has also launched a C$1.5‑billion First and Last Mile infrastructure fund, earmarking C$115 million for five mine‑to‑market links, and is planning a C$2‑billion sovereign fund with potential equity stakes in critical mineral projects.

Rachel Reeves’ 2026 Spring Statement, centred on a message of macroeconomic “stability” and fiscal restraint, offered no new funding envelopes or timelines for major infrastructure beyond previously announced pledges. Contractors and consultants had anticipated clarity on delivery of schemes such as the £36bn Network North package and long-term settlements for the Road Investment Strategy and rail enhancements. The lack of detail on multi‑year capital budgets and pipeline phasing prolongs uncertainty for design teams, geotechnical investigations and supply-chain capacity planning.

Reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework announced in December 2024 have yet to lift housebuilding, with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2026 Economic and Fiscal Outlook showing net additions to the UK housing stock falling from around 260,000 a year in the early 2020s to a projected low of 220,000 in 2026-27. The OBR still expects planning changes to push net additions to just over 305,000 by 2030-31, compared with a current stock of more than 32 million dwellings. For contractors, developers and ground engineers, this points to a short-term pipeline dip before a potential late-decade ramp-up in housing sites and associated infrastructure.

The British Board of Agrément has had its UKAS accreditation temporarily suspended from 26 February 2026, preventing it from issuing new certificates under accredited status for now. UKAS’ action stems from a 2025 change in the BBA’s corporate structure and relates solely to administrative documentation, not to technical competence or testing capability. Existing certification work, including BBA Agrément assessments used by product manufacturers to evidence compliance with UK and Eurocode-based standards, is continuing while the documentation issues are resolved.

The Construction Industry Council has updated its health & safety certification, delivered via Accredex, to embed the new dutyholder, competence and accountability requirements of the Building Safety Act for profession-specific roles across the built environment. Aimed at professionals who only occasionally visit site, the online course offers five CPD hours and is recognised as an approved route to AQP/PQP CSCS and SKILLcard, and to a CSCS Red Trainee Card for those on academic programmes. CIC will introduce the revised course in a free webinar at 12:30 on Monday 16th March.

The director of London-based Bebo Construction Limited, Adebanjo Adebayo Talabi, has received a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years, 200 hours’ unpaid work and a six-year director disqualification after admitting three fraudulent Covid Bounce Back Loan applications totalling £150,000. An Insolvency Service investigation found he exaggerated company turnover from about £1,300 loan eligibility to claims of £200,000–£220,000 turnover and secured three £50,000 loans from different banks between August and November 2020. Investigators also found the funds were diverted to personal accounts rather than used for the company’s economic benefit.

Nabers UK Energy for Office ratings are now formally recognised by the UK Net Zero Buildings Standard (UKNZBS), allowing certified ratings to be used as evidence of compliance with UKNZBS operational energy requirements for existing office buildings. Administered since 2024 by CIBSE Certification, the UK adaptation of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System has been aligned through joint technical work between CIBSE Certification and the UKNZBS team. The move gives owners, occupiers and investors a single, performance-based route to verify in-use energy performance against one of the UK’s most stringent net-zero benchmarks.

Western governments are adopting a “China-light” industrial strategy, pouring tens to hundreds of billions into defence, semiconductors and critical minerals via tools such as the US Defense Production Act, CHIPS and Science Act ($53 billion), and the EU’s €43 billion European Chips Act and Critical Raw Materials Act. China’s integrated model still dominates midstream capacity, refining 68% of global nickel, 73% of cobalt, 95% of manganese, all spherical graphite for battery anodes, and over 90% of rare earth processing and magnet production. For mining and materials players, the key shift is policy focus from new mines to midstream conversion capacity, long-term offtake-style defence contracts, and allied coordination of minerals and materials flows.

Chile’s Ministry of Health has formally authorised the use of copper slag as an artificial aggregate in infrastructure works, including road surfacing, turning a major smelting waste stream into a regulated construction input. The decree defines copper slag as a by-product of copper pyrometallurgy and allows its controlled use in pavements and other civil works, subject to health and environmental criteria. For Chilean miners and contractors, this opens a large-scale outlet for slag stockpiles and may alter aggregate sourcing, pavement design and leachate management practices.

A 34-year-old Manchester plumber, Hannah Spencer, has won the Gorton and Denton by-election for the Green Party with 14,980 votes, taking 40.7% of the vote and a 27.5% swing. Reform polled 10,578 votes and Labour, which previously held the seat, dropped to third with 9,364 votes. Spencer, believed to be the first qualified plumber in the House of Commons and newly trained as a plasterer via a St Gobain intensive course, has pledged to champion tradespeople in parliament.

A new “energy infrastructure coordination levy” has been proposed in the House of Commons by a Suffolk MP to compel developers of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) to plan grid, cable and substation works jointly rather than as isolated schemes. The move responds to Suffolk communities facing overlapping onshore works from multiple offshore wind connections and transmission upgrades, with repeated trenching, haul road construction and temporary land take along similar corridors. For civil and geotechnical teams, the levy could drive shared route corridors, consolidated ground investigations and integrated construction phasing across competing NSIPs.

HMRC is intensifying enforcement of the VAT domestic reverse charge (DRC) in construction, moving from “light‑touch” to active enquiries, assessments and penalties where reverse charge accounting, CIS classification or invoicing are wrong. The DRC applies where both parties are UK VAT‑ and CIS‑registered, the work falls within CIS “construction operations”, and the customer has not declared end‑user or intermediary status, with mixed‑supply treatment governed by a 5% threshold. Contractors and subcontractors now need watertight written end‑user declarations, DRC‑capable invoicing systems, and cash‑flow planning that reflects loss of the VAT working‑capital buffer.

Scotland is on course to meet most emissions cuts required in its first carbon budget for 2026–2030, but the Climate Change Committee warns that weak long‑term policy on building heat decarbonisation and negative emissions technologies threatens later targets. The CCC points to slow progress on large‑scale heat pump deployment, limited clarity on phasing out high‑carbon heating systems, and uncertainty over engineered removals such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. For infrastructure planners, this signals potential future policy shifts in heat networks, retrofit standards and CCS‑ready industrial projects.

Europe’s delayed “Buy European” single-market legislation, now due 4 March, is being criticised for focusing on finished goods while ignoring upstream critical minerals that underpin industrial sovereignty. Michael Wurmser, founder of Norge Mineraler, contrasts EU inaction with the US DFC-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium’s move to buy 40% of Glencore’s Mutanda and Kamoto copper-cobalt assets in the DRC, valuing them at about US$9 billion. He argues Europe has sizeable in‑bloc potential in copper, lithium, high‑purity alumina, phosphate and titanium that must be integrated into industrial policy.

Chile’s incoming right‑wing government under José Antonio Kast is merging the Mining and Economy ministries and handing the combined portfolio to agronomist Daniel Mas, unsettling a sector facing an estimated $105 billion in investment to 2034 and already battling a “cursed” permitting system where major projects can need 500+ permits. The shift coincides with Chile’s first critical minerals strategy, expanding focus beyond copper and lithium to 14 minerals including molybdenum, rhenium, cobalt and rare earths. Analysts warn that without faster approvals and incentives for exploration, Chile risks missing the current price cycle as copper output fell 2% in 2025 amid declining grades and ageing deposits.

The Construction Leadership Council board is being expanded from nine to 15 members as government scraps its separate construction advisory panel, adding civil service figures including NISTA chief executive Becky Wood and Cabinet Office markets director Clare Gibbs alongside industry sponsor for people & skills Mark Farmer. New seats are allocated to each of the four strategic workstreams and four sector groups, bringing in ICE director general Janet Young for infrastructure, HBF chief executive Neil Jefferson for house-building, NHIC chief executive Anna Scothern for domestic RMI, and Scape chief executive Mark Robinson for places, assets and commissioning. A new health, safety & wellbeing group led by Berkeley Group’s Karl Whiteman and the planned 2026 CLC Strategy and Construction Industry Workforce Plan signal tighter central government influence over construction policy and skills planning.

Western Australia will amend the Road Traffic Act 1974 under “Kelly’s Law” to impose tougher, longer licence disqualifications on hit-and-run drivers who flee serious or fatal crashes. The reforms will target offenders who fail to stop and render assistance, preventing them from regaining a licence for extended periods and, in some cases, permanently. For road and traffic engineers, the move signals continued policy emphasis on driver behaviour and enforcement rather than geometric or asset changes to improve network safety outcomes.

Antidumping duties under the US Tariff Act of 1930 are proposed as a floating “price-gap” mechanism to counter China’s below-cost exports of rare earths and other USGS-designated critical minerals, with duties rising automatically as Chinese export prices fall. Erik Groves, corporate strategy and in-house counsel at Morgan Companies, argues this would extend the logic of the US Department of Defence’s floor-price agreement with MP Materials at Mountain Pass without Washington acting as buyer of last resort. Coordinated antidumping actions by the US, EU, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea could establish de facto price floors across multiple Western markets.

Updated planning guidance on flood risk and coastal change still leaves a regulatory gap for mandatory sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), argues Stuart Crisp, UK manager at Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS). He notes that, outside Schedule 3-type regimes, many English developments can proceed without adoptable SuDS features such as attenuation tanks, geocellular storage and permeable pavements, despite long-term surface water and groundwater flood risks. For civil and drainage designers, this keeps SuDS largely policy-led rather than enforceable, complicating investment in higher-spec systems and long-term maintenance planning.

Canada and Mexico are preparing a joint minerals, infrastructure and supply chain action plan for the second half of 2026, aimed at cutting bottlenecks in permitting, transport corridors, power supply, processing capacity and customs for cross-border critical mineral projects. The move sits alongside the US–Mexico Action Plan on Critical Minerals and Canada’s role in the G7-linked Critical Minerals Production Alliance and Minerals Security Partnership, signalling a shift from price management to “de-risking” mine-to-market flows. Investors will watch for a defined shortlist of minerals, concrete midstream projects in processing and refining, and specific trade and finance tools rather than broad diplomatic language.

Delivery of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Building Safeguards action plan is now in focus, following its 2024 review of safety and risk management that builds on the 2018 In Plain Sight report issued after the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. The programme targets clearer dutyholder accountability, more rigorous competence requirements and stronger assurance processes across design, construction and asset management. For practising engineers, this signals tighter expectations around safety cases, risk registers and independent technical review on complex buildings and higher-risk structures.

ICE has introduced three mandatory continuing professional development themes for all professionally active members following a consultation that ran from May 2023 to March 2024. The topics – climate change and carbon, ethics, and digital transformation – must now be covered within the existing annual CPD requirement rather than as additional hours. Firms will need to evidence structured learning in areas such as whole-life carbon assessment, data and information management, and professional conduct, which may drive more formalised training programmes and updated competence records.

Publication of the UK government’s 2026 Green Book update marks the biggest overhaul of public investment appraisal in more than a decade, reshaping how major transport, flood defence and regeneration schemes outside London are valued. The reforms are expected to give greater weight to regional productivity, social value and resilience benefits, rather than relying heavily on agglomeration effects in already prosperous areas. For civil and geotechnical teams, this could shift business cases towards schemes addressing ageing regional assets, climate adaptation and brownfield infrastructure upgrades.

A new “chartered civil engineering surveyor” designation has been created under a mutual agreement between the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES), allowing eligible members and fellows of either body to adopt the title. RICS chief executive Justin Young describes chartered status as the “gold standard”, tying it to competence in keeping property and construction projects safe, compliant and accurately valued. CICES chief executive Simon Hamlyn notes this is the first time in CICES’s 56-year history that members can use this specific chartered title, aimed at raising the profile of civil engineering surveyors globally.

Project Vault will create a US$12 billion US critical minerals stockpile, combining US$1.67 billion in private capital with a US$10 billion Export-Import Bank loan to buy and store materials for automakers, tech firms and other industrial users. Following a Section 232 probe covering the full USGS critical minerals list plus uranium, the administration found imports threaten national security but chose negotiated price floors and trade mechanisms over tariffs. Forthcoming US–Mexico and US–EU–Japan action plans, under the new FORGE framework, will define which minerals are prioritised, how any border-adjusted price floor is calculated, and how rules of origin or downstream products are treated.

Scotland is missing out on roughly 5,000 high‑quality nuclear jobs because the Scottish Government continues to block new civil nuclear reactors, according to the Nuclear Industry Association. The NIA links the lost roles to supply‑chain, construction and long‑term operations work comparable to projects such as Hinkley Point C and the UK’s emerging small modular reactor (SMR) programme. For civil and geotechnical engineers, the policy effectively removes opportunities for major nuclear-grade concrete, deep excavation and marine intake/outfall works north of the border.

Delays at the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway 3 stage are linked by law firm Irwin Mitchell to 44 undecided schemes and 5,594 completed higher-risk residential units remaining unoccupied, with one case waiting 550 days against an eight‑week target. Of 158 Gateway 3 applications in 2023, 55 took more than three months for a decision, raising concerns over cashflow impacts on developers and handover timing for residents. The BSR disputes the interpretation, stating no new-build higher-risk building that passed Gateway 2 has yet applied for Gateway 3 and that current cases are mainly transitional legacy projects with significant safety issues.

MPs on Parliament’s transport select committee are questioning whether the Railways Bill’s proposed Passengers’ Council will have any real enforcement powers to deliver a fully accessible national rail network. Concerns centre on the council’s ability to compel infrastructure managers and train operators to retrofit step-free access, tactile paving and compliant boarding interfaces across thousands of stations and platforms. For designers and asset owners, the outcome will influence how strongly accessibility standards are mandated in future station upgrades, platform works and rolling stock procurement.

NI 43-101’s standardised technical reports and qualified person requirements stabilised disclosure after Bre-X, but Erik Groves, corporate strategy and in-house counsel at Morgan Companies, argues they now mask chronic diluters whose projects never advance despite repeated financings and high G&A. With Canadian National Policy 51-201 still warning against “sporadic” online rumour correction on chat rooms and bulletin boards, legal advice often keeps issuers off X, YouTube and Reddit while retail investors crowdsource geology and drill-interval analysis. Groves calls for a defined safe harbour allowing video documentation of fieldwork, plain-language geological reasoning and public misinformation correction, without pre-releasing material results or implying unsupported resources.

New South Wales has introduced a bill to make its Demerit Point Reward Program permanent, following a trial that began in 2023 to encourage safer driving behaviour. The scheme rewards motorists who avoid new offences over a defined period by restoring demerit points, directly affecting licence suspension thresholds and enforcement loads on the road network. For road and traffic engineers, the programme’s permanence would lock in a behavioural lever that can be modelled alongside physical safety upgrades, speed zoning and enforcement camera placement.

The Planning Inspectorate is introducing new digital tools and revised procedures to speed up consenting for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), aiming to cut overall examination and decision times while maintaining statutory consultation requirements. Measures include expanded use of online portals for document submission and evidence management, greater standardisation of environmental impact assessment templates, and earlier issue resolution through structured pre-application engagement. For major energy, transport and water schemes, faster and more predictable Development Consent Order timelines could materially reduce holding costs, contractor mobilisation risks and programme float tied to planning uncertainty.

Fellow and risk specialist John Carpenter has resigned from the Institution of Civil Engineers, issuing an open letter criticising what he calls the ICE’s “lack of adequate response” to the Grenfell Tower fire. Carpenter, a long-standing member with recognised expertise in risk management, argues the institution has failed to provide sufficiently robust professional guidance on fire safety, cladding and high-rise residential design. His departure signals growing pressure on professional bodies to tighten competency standards and technical leadership on life-safety critical infrastructure.

Canada’s critical minerals push is lagging US urgency, with Washington proposing a US$12‑billion “Project Vault” stockpile and even floating single‑month permitting for strategic mines, while Canadian approvals remain “glacial”. Anthony Vaccaro argues Canada’s C$4‑billion Critical Minerals Strategy, 26 G7 Production Alliance-backed investments and talk of a Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund still lack the execution speed needed to convert world-class lithium, graphite, nickel and rare earth deposits into processing capacity. He warns that without rapid permitting reform and Arctic infrastructure – ports, rail, grids and logistics – Canada risks ceding geopolitical leverage to China and faster-moving allies.

Ministers are being pressed by the House of Commons transport select committee to spell out how the Railways Bill will actually deliver the government’s long-term rail investment pipeline under Great British Railways, warning that current proposals give only a “partial picture” of future schemes. MPs want clarity on how enhancements, renewals and major projects will be prioritised and funded within GBR’s structure, and how this links to existing control periods and the Integrated Rail Plan. For designers and contractors, the committee flags that opaque governance and funding rules risk delaying project development and supply chain planning.

Government plans to overhaul construction apprenticeships by introducing “sampling” in competence-based assessment, cutting mandatory skills and knowledge criteria in trades such as carpentry and joinery by 60–70% from the current 70 items, and allowing end point assessment organisations to design their own processes. British Woodworking Federation chief executive Helen Hewitt warns this conflicts with Building Safety Act competence requirements, jeopardises CSCS recognition and risks undertrained workers handling life-safety products like fire doors. More than 30 organisations in the Construction Coalition have already forced a pause on the reforms, but employers are delaying apprentice recruitment amid ongoing uncertainty.

RICS has overhauled its continuing professional development framework for 130,000 members, shifting to a flexible, outcomes-based system that explicitly covers artificial intelligence, net zero building assessments and climate risk analysis. The framework responds to feedback that many chartered surveyors qualified before exposure to AI-powered valuation tools or structured climate-related due diligence, raising concerns over competence in current regulatory and ESG contexts. A new RICS member app, now rolling out globally, logs CPD hours, issues reminders and links learning activity to demonstrable professional accountability and public-interest protection.

British Columbia has appealed a December 2025 ruling that found its Mineral Tenure Act breaches consultation duties by allowing mineral claims staking on Gitxaała and Ehattesaht territories without prior First Nations engagement. The 3 February filing to the Supreme Court of Canada argues the appeals court misapplied B.C.’s 2019 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and risks giving UNDRIP “quasi-constitutional status”, creating a “parallel universe of litigation”. Premier David Eby plans DRIPA amendments this spring after talks with First Nations, while leaders including Gitxaała Chief Councillor Linda Innes warn rushed reforms could weaken enforceable rights over exploration permitting.

National Apprenticeship Week is being used by engineering and technology leaders to push for a more robust apprenticeship system to supply site-ready technicians, civil engineers and project managers for major UK infrastructure schemes such as HS2 and the Lower Thames Crossing. Commentators argue that current funding rules and levy constraints are limiting uptake by SMEs in ground engineering, rail and highways, despite strong demand for Level 3–6 apprentices in disciplines like geotechnical design, digital construction and materials testing. For practitioners, the message is to engage directly with training providers and use the levy more aggressively to secure future skills pipelines.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable is calling for a major overhaul of the skilled migration system to ease what she describes as a mining workforce “crunch”, particularly in engineering, geoscience and critical minerals processing roles. The MCA wants faster visa processing, clearer pathways for experienced overseas professionals, and better recognition of mining-specific qualifications to support projects in remote regions such as the Pilbara and North Queensland. Persistent shortages in drill and blast engineers, metallurgists and underground supervisors are already delaying project timelines and driving up labour costs.

US mineral supply chains became more exposed in 2025, with the USGS reporting 100% import reliance for 16 of 90 tracked non-fuel commodities and more than 50% reliance for 54 minerals, up from 15 and 46 respectively in 2024. The US is totally dependent on imports of arsenic, natural graphite, manganese, niobium, tantalum, titanium sponge and 10 other minerals, with China supplying nearly half of arsenic and graphite, 55% of antimony and 70% of rare earths. In response, the Trump administration has proposed a $12 billion critical minerals stockpile and a JD Vance-led allied trade bloc, while industry warns US mine permitting still averages 29 years.

The UK Treasury has issued a slimmed‑down Green Book, revising the appraisal rules that govern billions of pounds of public investment in transport, flood defences and other major infrastructure. The update is intended to give “overlooked” regions a stronger case in cost‑benefit analysis by rebalancing how wider economic impacts, distributional effects and place‑based regeneration are valued alongside pure benefit–cost ratios. Civil and geotechnical schemes in lower‑income or lower‑productivity areas could now score better in business cases for road upgrades, rail links and resilience works.

Profit warnings from FTSE Construction & Materials companies more than trebled in 2025, rising to 18 from five in 2024, with 33% of listed firms issuing at least one warning – the highest level since the 33 alerts seen in 2020. EY-Parthenon attributes 50% of these warnings to contract and order cancellations or delays, with policy change and geopolitical uncertainty cited in 28% and rising costs in 17%. Increasing regulatory complexity around the Building Safety Act, legacy liabilities and labour shortages are eroding margins and straining working capital across project supply chains.

Western Australia has moved to cap the royalty rate for vanadium products at 5 per cent of the realised value, giving long-term fiscal certainty to developers in a state that hosts the world’s largest share of economic demonstrated vanadium resources. The decision is aimed at projects such as the Australian Vanadium Project near Meekatharra and Technology Metals Australia’s Murchison Technology Metals Project, both targeting vanadium pentoxide for steel alloys and grid-scale vanadium redox flow batteries. For geotechnical and civil teams, the clearer cost base may accelerate approvals, detailed design and construction scheduling for associated open pits, tailings storage and processing plants.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King has ruled out any changes to Australia’s Diesel Fuel Tax Credit scheme, rejecting calls from climate and budget advocates to wind back the rebate on off-road diesel use by miners and other heavy industries. Speaking from Washington, King framed the credit as critical to the cost base of remote operations that rely on high-horsepower diesel fleets, haul trucks and fixed plant, particularly where grid power or gas is unavailable. The decision preserves a major operating-cost lever for open-pit and underground mines while potentially slowing any near-term shift away from diesel-powered equipment.