Sofi Filtration has opened a new Sofi Filtration Test Center in Izmir, Türkiye, to run commercial testing and piloting of its filtration technology with local mining customers. The facility, established with local partner Ecoline Group, is aimed at on-site evaluation of mine water and process streams under Turkish operating conditions. For engineers, this signals easier access to pilot-scale trials and performance data without shipping samples abroad, potentially shortening design cycles for dewatering and water-reuse projects in the region.

Metso will supply several Nordberg MP800 high-capacity cone crushers to Grupo Mexico’s La Caridad copper mine concentrator in Nacozari, Sonora, as part of a plant capacity upgrade. The MP800 units, typically used for secondary and tertiary crushing in large copper concentrators, will be integrated into existing circuits to handle higher throughputs without major footprint changes. For plant and process engineers, the move signals continued reliance on large, fixed crushing assets rather than smaller, modular units for brownfield debottlenecking.

Iamgold COO Bruno Lemelin, named Northern Miner Group’s EY Operator of the Year, has led the Côté open-pit mine in Ontario to commercial production at its 36,000 t/d plant, drawing on 233 Mt at 0.96 g/t for 7.17 Moz over an 18-year life and targeting average output of 365,000 oz/y. Third-quarter production reached 106,000 oz from Côté, Essakane (92,000 oz) and Westwood (23,000 oz), generating US$707 million revenue at an average realised gold price of US$3,492/oz and AISC of US$1,956/oz. Expansion work includes 55 km of drilling at the adjacent Gosselin deposit (4.4 Moz indicated, 3 Moz inferred) to test a “super-pit” concept lifting throughput from 13 Mt/y to up to 20 Mt/y, while Essakane life extension drilling proceeds under Burkina Faso’s tougher 2024 mining code and Côté ramps autonomous haulage and AI-enabled control-room operations.

Cat® Job Site Solutions is marking 20 years of performance-based support agreements that bundle equipment, technology and services into outcome-focused contracts for mines and quarries. Originating from a 2005 initiative to rethink customer support, the business now structures deals around metrics such as cost per tonne, fuel burn and availability, using tools like MineStar™ Fleet, condition monitoring and dealer-managed maintenance. For geotechnical and mining engineers, this shifts fleet planning and pit design decisions towards lifecycle cost, uptime guarantees and data-driven productivity baselines.

An autonomous Komatsu HD1500 haul truck at Zijin Mining-owned Norton Gold Fields in Western Australia has completed its first fully autonomous test cycle with no safety driver on board, using EACON Mining Technology’s autonomous haulage system (AHS) in partnership with Thiess. The milestone confirms driverless operation from loading to dumping under site conditions, moving a 142 t-class rigid truck on a fixed haul route without human intervention in the cab. For mine planners and fleet engineers, this marks progression from supervised trials to true unmanned haulage, enabling redesign of traffic management, interaction zones, and shift deployment.

GBM Konect is now the core field data and asset management platform for Banyule City Council in Melbourne’s north-east, supporting service delivery across more than 20 suburbs and a population above 130,000. The cloud-based, location-aware system lets crews capture condition data, photos and GPS coordinates in real time for roads, paths, drainage and open space assets, replacing paper workflows. Engineers gain a single geospatial view of assets and maintenance history, improving defect prioritisation, scheduling and compliance reporting without bespoke in-house GIS development.

Sripath has launched ButaPhalt, a new polymer additive for polymer modified bitumen (PMB) blends designed to address long‑standing bonding and durability issues in road surfacings. The formulation is engineered to increase crosslinking connectivity within the binder matrix, improving cohesion between bitumen, polymer and aggregate while also boosting plant production efficiency. For pavement designers and asphalt producers, this signals potential for longer‑life wearing courses, better resistance to rutting and cracking, and fewer processing constraints when specifying high‑performance PMB mixes.

The 20th International Conference of the Australian Flexible Pavement Association in Adelaide brought together more than 400 delegates, 50 speakers and 40 exhibitors to tackle emerging technical and delivery challenges in flexible pavements. Sessions focused on future-ready road design, including performance-based asphalt specifications, recycled materials in dense-graded and stone mastic mixes, and data-driven asset management for high-volume freight corridors. For practitioners, the event signalled accelerating adoption of advanced binders, additives and mechanistic-empirical design tools in Australian pavement practice.

Specialised Roading Equipment’s first fixed wing sprayer built specifically for Australia has arrived, offering a purpose-designed alternative to retrofitted units for bitumen and emulsion spraying on highways and regional roads. Developed from SRE’s New Zealand fleet experience, the aircraft integrates calibrated spray bars, automated rate control and GPS-based application management to improve coverage accuracy and reduce overspray. For road agencies and contractors, the move opens options for large-scale seal programmes in remote areas where ground sprayers struggle with access, crew exposure and tight weather windows.

Geoquest Australia is deploying turn-key geotechnical systems to reduce geo-risk and weather-related damage to transport infrastructure under rising sea levels, higher rainfall intensity and more frequent extreme heat and fire events. The company is focusing on sustainably produced ground improvement and erosion control products, including stabilisation solutions for road embankments and coastal assets, to limit scour, slippage and pavement failure during intense storms. For asset owners, the approach points to integrated design–supply packages that combine geosynthetics, drainage and soil reinforcement to extend asset life and cut maintenance interventions.

Las Zirh, a Turkish family-owned mining tyre chain specialist founded in 1978 by Hüseyin Şedele and now led by President and CEO Fatih Sedele, is expanding rapidly from its core European base into major mining markets. The company focuses on heavy-duty protection chains for large OTR tyres on loaders and haul trucks, targeting abrasive and high-impact conditions in open-pit operations. For mine operators, longer chain life and reduced tyre damage directly affect haulage costs, maintenance planning and fleet availability.

Grecian Magnesite is adding a fully electric, battery-powered Aramine L440B loader to its Koutzi underground magnesite mine in Evia, Greece, to help ramp towards the site’s ~50,000 t/y design capacity of pre-concentrated ore. The new L440B will work alongside an existing Aramine L140B, expanding the battery LHD fleet for production and development headings without increasing diesel equipment underground. For mine planners and ventilation engineers, the move signals continued adoption of battery loaders to cut heat and diesel particulates while sustaining output in confined workings.

Epiroc’s 66 t Minetruck MT66 S eDrive has begun a six‑month performance trial at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine, hauling ore at the Wallaby underground operation in Western Australia’s Laverton District. The diesel-electric truck is being benchmarked in Granny Smith’s existing truck fleet under real production conditions, with Epiroc specialists stationed on site for the full trial period. Outcomes will focus on fuel burn, cycle times and maintenance behaviour in deep-level, long‑haul stoping, informing future fleet replacement and electrification strategies.

Sandvik will invest about C$51 million to build a 51,000-square-foot mechanical cutting, parts and services hub in Saskatoon’s North Marquis Industrial Area, on a 155-acre site east of Highway 11 and north of Marquis Drive. The facility will consolidate workflow-optimised workshop bays, wash bays, staging areas and clearance for next-generation mechanical cutting equipment with an integrated warehouse for regional parts inventory. Ground-breaking is planned for February 2026, with operations in Q4 2026 to support potash, uranium, gold and copper mines across Central and Western Canada.

The Construction Edition Official Sticker Album, featuring collectable images of construction machinery, is expanding distribution from more than 3,000 UK and Ireland supermarkets into plant and tool hire shops and dealer outlets. Publisher Paul Buist aims to use point-of-sale exposure at firms such as Shire Plant Hire to encourage customers to buy albums and sticker packs for children and young relatives, promoting early interest in plant and equipment. Interested hire shops and equipment dealers are invited to become stockists via The Construction Index contact channel.

Metso has secured approximately €70 million in remaining major contracts under its August 2024 frame agreement to supply Metso Plus beneficiation and dewatering equipment to Barrick Mining’s 50%-owned Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan. The package covers advanced flotation and dewatering systems sized for large-scale porphyry copper-gold throughput, aimed at improving concentrate recovery and water management in an arid environment. For process engineers and project teams, the deal confirms Metso’s technology as the baseline flowsheet for Reko Diq’s concentrator and tailings dewatering design.

McLanahan is promoting compact process solutions such as its recessed-plate filter presses and QUICKCHANGE filter cloth system to lift plant efficiency and reduce tailings water loss in existing mines. The QUICKCHANGE design allows individual cloths to be swapped without removing the plate pack, cutting press downtime, manual handling and confined-space exposure during maintenance. For brownfield operations constrained by legacy footprints and power limits, the company is positioning modular dewatering and screening units as bolt-on upgrades rather than full plant rebuilds.

BULK2026 in Melbourne will convene bulk handling operators, OEMs and engineers to tackle chronic issues such as conveyor belt mistracking, spillage at transfer points and dust control on high‑throughput shiploaders and stacker‑reclaimers. Technical sessions will focus on optimising long overland conveyors, improving chute design using DEM modelling, and upgrading ageing idler and pulley systems to cut unplanned downtime. For mine operators, the event signals growing emphasis on condition monitoring, smarter wear‑liner materials and retrofittable upgrades rather than full conveyor replacements.

Schlam is expanding its east coast footprint with a new Hunter Valley facility in Muswellbrook to service New South Wales coal and hard rock operations using its Hercules mining truck bodies. The site is positioned close to major open-cut mines in the Upper Hunter, reducing downtime for tray relines, structural repairs and wear package upgrades that previously required longer hauls to Queensland or WA workshops. For mine operators, local capacity for large-format fabrication and refurbishment supports higher truck availability and more responsive lifecycle management of ultra-class haul fleets.

Henkel is targeting unplanned shutdowns on slurry and process pipelines with a Loctite composite “pipe bandage” system designed for rapid, in-situ repair of worn or leaking steel lines. The wrap combines epoxy-based fillers with fibre reinforcement to restore wall thickness and hoop strength without hot work, allowing operators to avoid cutting out sections or mobilising welding crews in confined or hazardous areas. For maintenance engineers, the approach offers a way to extend pipe life and manage localised corrosion or abrasion within existing pressure and safety envelopes.

Heavy Metal Equipment & Rentals is expanding its ultra-class haul truck offering to 131 Caterpillar 797s by end-2026, after acquiring 45 used units and ordering 10 new 797Fs from dealer Finning to add to its existing fleet of 76 trucks. The Canadian rental specialist is targeting large Canadian oil sands and hard-rock operations that need short- to medium-term access to 360–400 t class trucks without capex. For mine planners, the enlarged common fleet simplifies spares, operator training and haul profile standardisation across multiple sites.

Liebherr has opened a new Saudi Liebherr Company Ltd branch in Riyadh to expand support for mining and construction customers across Saudi Arabia’s central region. The facility is intended to provide closer access to OEM service for Liebherr mining trucks, excavators and cranes, with local parts supply and field maintenance rather than relying solely on coastal hubs. For operators, the move should shorten downtime for heavy equipment fleets working on central Arabian gold, phosphate and infrastructure projects, and may influence procurement strategies favouring OEM-backed lifecycle support.

BEUMER Group has inaugurated a new INR 2 billion manufacturing facility at Reliance’s Model Economic Township (MET City) in Jhajjar, Haryana, marking a major expansion of its Indian material handling footprint. The high-tech plant will localise production of bulk handling systems and conveyor technology for mining and cement, reducing import dependence and lead times for large overland conveyors and loading systems. For project engineers, closer regional fabrication should simplify logistics, spares support and lifecycle service for high-capacity conveying installations across India and neighbouring markets.

Epiroc’s Pit Viper blasthole drill, introduced 25 years ago, remains a flagship high‑capacity rig in large open pits, combining high power with flexible mast and hole configurations for production drilling. The platform has operated autonomously for the past decade, with fleets running driverless drill patterns and remote supervision from control centres rather than on‑bench cabins. For mine planners and drill‑and‑blast engineers, the Pit Viper’s long autonomous track record is a key reference point for integrating automated drilling into existing benches, patterns and safety envelopes.

Prairie Machine’s Flexiveyor Continuous Haulage System has received MSHA certification from the US Mining Safety and Health Administration’s Approval and Certification Center, clearing it for use in regulated underground coal operations. The modular Flexiveyor is designed to provide continuous haulage between the mining face and section belt, reducing shuttle car traffic and associated congestion in development headings. Certification opens the US underground coal market to the system, giving mine engineers an additional compliant option for redesigning panel layouts and material flows around continuous haulage.

Eldorado Gold is expanding electrified underground load-and-haul at the Lamaque Complex in Val-d’Or, Québec, with an order for 10 Sandvik battery-electric vehicles and 10 charging systems, including five TH550B 50‑t trucks and five Toro LH518iB loaders. The first two TH550B trucks were delivered in October, with the remaining three trucks and five loaders to follow, supporting a fully electric primary haulage fleet in key production areas. For mine planners and ventilation engineers, the BEVs are expected to cut diesel emissions and heat load, enabling tighter development in deeper zones.

Proximity to Slopes, a new calculator in the Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers & Importers (ALLMI) app, now quantifies safe stabiliser leg positions for loader cranes working beside embankments. Users input mat width, horizontal distance from the crane base to the crest, and slope height; the tool then defines a “danger area” where stabilisers must not be placed to avoid loss of stability. For temporary works and lift planners, this offers a quick, standardised check when siting cranes on or near cuttings, bunds and roadside batters.

Rajant Corporation has launched the SLP-1025 Slipstream gateway and Hawk FE1-2450G triple-radio BreadCrumb®, integrating 5G directly into its industrial wireless mesh architecture. The Hawk FE1-2450G combines three radios with embedded 5G to support low-latency links for autonomous haul trucks, high-definition video and real-time fleet telemetry across large open pits and underground drifts. The SLP-1025 acts as a high-throughput edge gateway, allowing mines to design distributed computing networks with 5G backhaul from initial deployment rather than retrofitting later.

Brokk is promoting remote-controlled demolition robots for underground mining, positioning its 1–11‑tonne class machines as alternatives to conventional excavators and handheld breakers in stopes, crusher chambers and drawpoints. The electric-powered units use tethered or radio control to keep operators tens of metres from brow faces, brow cleaning and oversize reduction, and can carry hydraulic hammers, drum cutters and scabblers on compact carriers designed for low headings. For geotechnical and production teams, the key shift is moving personnel out of unsupported ground while still performing scaling, secondary breakage and rehabilitation in confined, high‑risk zones.

Manhole Form Hire is rolling out new certified, patented in-situ manhole formwork systems across Australian civil projects, using heavy-duty modular panels and corners that quickly configure into L-shapes and other geometries on constrained sites. The steel forms are designed for repeat hire, tight dimensional control and rapid pour-and-strip cycles, reducing on-site carpentry and crane time compared with traditional timber boxing. For contractors, the key gains are faster manhole construction, more consistent internal diameters and wall thicknesses, and improved safety around excavations.

Silver Storm Mining has ordered a full underground fleet from Chinese manufacturer Siton to restart operations at the 100%-owned La Parrilla silver mine complex in Durango, Mexico, covering load–haul–dump units, underground trucks and both development and production drills. The package also includes new main and auxiliary ventilation fans to upgrade airflow capacity in the multi-level workings, a key step for meeting current diesel equipment and worker exposure limits. Delivery of all critical units is intended to align with the ramp-up of underground development and stoping.

Chromafora’s pilot-scale thiosulphate gold leaching process in Sweden has achieved up to 92% gold recovery without cyanide, in a programme formally reported to and approved by innovation agency and co-funder Vinnova. The process uses thiosulphate lixiviant chemistry instead of sodium cyanide, targeting refractory and complex ores where conventional cyanidation underperforms. For mine operators, the results signal a potential route to maintain high recoveries while reducing cyanide handling infrastructure, permitting complexity and long-term tailings liabilities.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (UK) will close its Wakefield and Warrington depots and consolidate operations into a single modernised northern base by spring 2026, with the new location yet to be disclosed. Customer support representatives and product support managers will remain field-based across the region, shifting to more on-site assistance rather than depot-centred service. The investment is intended to expand supply and delivery solutions and increase capacity, which may affect response times, parts logistics and service coverage for heavy plant operators in northern England.

Liebherr has doubled routine maintenance intervals on its Generation 6 LH material handlers, extending service gaps from 500 to 1,000 operating hours after the first intervention on LH 40–LH 150 electric and LH 30–LH 150 diesel models. The change, enabled by optimised Liebherr original filters, oils, lubricants and operating fluids, is claimed to cut maintenance costs by up to 30% and reduce machine downtime. For scrap and bulk-handling operations running multi-shift cycles, the longer intervals materially affect workshop planning, spares stocking and life-cycle costing.

Metso will use the Future Minerals Forum 2026 in Riyadh (13–15 January) to showcase sustainable processing technologies for energy transition minerals, including copper, green steel feedstocks, gold and phosphate. CEO Sami Takaluoma, Minerals President Piia Karhu and Services President Heikki will lead panels and roundtables on end-to-end flowsheet optimisation, from comminution and beneficiation to service models. For mine planners and plant designers, the focus signals continued OEM push on lower-energy circuits and lifecycle service contracts in Middle Eastern and African growth markets.

FLS has secured an order to supply core comminution equipment for a greenfield copper concentrator in South America, centred on a 1600 x 2400 TSU gyratory crusher and two Raptor 900 cone crushers. The grinding circuit will use two 34‑ft diameter x 24‑ft long dual‑pinion SAG mills and two 24‑ft diameter mills, giving a high‑throughput, fully FLS-supplied front end. The package signals continued preference for large SAG-based circuits in new copper projects, with implications for power demand, liner wear strategies and maintenance planning.

Foran Mining is deploying Veracio’s Scan core-scanning technology at its McIlvenna Bay copper-zinc-precious metals project in Saskatchewan to compress exploration timelines during the 2025 winter drilling campaign. The system acquires continuous high-resolution imagery and multi-sensor data directly from drill core, enabling near-real-time geological logging and faster targeting decisions compared with traditional manual core logging workflows. For geologists and resource modellers, this means earlier structural and lithological interpretation, tighter drill spacing decisions, and potentially shorter cycles between discovery, resource definition, and mine planning.

Epiroc has launched the COPROD 89 drilling system for surface mining and quarrying, claiming higher penetration rates and lower fuel burn through increased flushing capacity and optimised tool geometry. The 89 mm COPROD string is engineered for durability and precision drilling in hard rock, aiming to extend bit and rod life while maintaining straight holes over longer benches. For mine operators, the key promise is reduced cost per metre drilled and improved rig utilisation without major changes to existing surface drill fleets.

Airbridge has secured the maximum A$1.5 million grant under Western Australia’s Carbon Innovation Grants Program Round 2, run by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, to expand its carbon capture and utilisation technology. The funding will support scaling from an operational pilot plant in Perth into heavy industrial applications in the Pilbara, targeting large mining and processing emitters. For miners, this signals near-term opportunities to trial point-source capture and CO₂ utilisation on existing fixed plant rather than only at new-build facilities.

Fluor has acquired FLSmidth’s Overland Conveyor Products Group, folding the technology and product line into its bulk materials handling subsidiary Virta Inc. The deal follows Virta’s earlier purchase of the RAHCO® brand, consolidating long-distance overland conveyor and mobile stacking system expertise under a single US-based design–supply provider. For mine developers, this signals a tighter EPC–OEM integration on high-capacity overland conveyor systems, potentially simplifying interface risk on multi‑kilometre haulage, waste stacking and in‑pit crushing projects.

Higher efficiency vibratory screening in mines is being driven by optimised mesh selection, correct vibrator sizing, and improved access to screen vibrators as critical wear parts. Martin Engineering’s Susie O. Bartoli stresses matching vibration frequency and amplitude to particle size distribution and moisture content, along with using appropriate wire diameters and aperture geometries to reduce blinding and carryover. Ergonomic maintenance access to vibrator assemblies and tensioning systems is framed as essential to cut downtime and manual handling risks on multi-deck screening stations.

Solarh2e is rolling out SANY SYG3 battery-electric heavy trucks for minerals haulage in Australia, targeting zero-emission freight on mine-to-port and pit-to-plant routes traditionally dominated by diesel prime movers. The SYG3 platform is being integrated with high-capacity charging infrastructure and solar-linked power supply, aiming to support multi-shift operations without range anxiety. For mine operators, the shift demands rethinking haul road power access, charging bay layout, and grid/renewables integration rather than only swapping out existing diesel fleets.

GeologicAI has acquired Lumo Analytics, adding what it calls the most compact and efficient Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) scanner on the market to its High-Resolution Decision Engineering platform for critical minerals. The LIBS unit uses high‑energy laser pulses to vaporise a tiny volume of material and read elemental composition in near real time, without destroying the core or chip sample. Integrating LIBS with GeologicAI’s existing sensor suite should tighten ore characterisation workflows, particularly for rapid geometallurgical logging and grade control in core sheds and on drill sites.

Hexagon’s Mining division has secured access to Montana Technological University’s Underground Mine Education Center (UMEC), including its full-scale training drifts and specialised underground equipment, to develop next-generation collision avoidance and operator safety systems. The agreement gives Hexagon a controlled but realistic testbed for validating sensor coverage, communications performance and human–machine interface design in complex underground geometries rather than relying solely on lab or surface trials. Engineers can expect faster iteration of proximity detection algorithms and simulation models tailored to narrow headings, mixed fleets and variable ground conditions.

AXT has supplied Larvotto Resources with Australia’s first onsite Elemission ECORE LIBS rapid core scanner, installed at the Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales after trials in AXT’s Automated Mineralogy Incubator. The ECORE system provides near real-time, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy analysis of drill core, enabling faster geochemical characterisation than traditional laboratory assays. For geologists and mine planners, this should tighten turnaround on resource modelling and metallurgical domaining, particularly for complex antimony-gold mineralisation.

First Quantum is deploying FLANDERS autonomous blasthole drilling technology at the Sentinel copper mine in Kalumbila, the first such drill automation rollout in Zambia and a step towards the country’s 3 Mt/y copper production target. The system automates key drill functions normally handled by operators, enabling more consistent hole placement and depth control, which should improve fragmentation and downstream mill performance. Remote operation and higher automation levels are also intended to reduce operator exposure at the bench while shifting roles towards higher-skilled control and maintenance tasks.

Codelco has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with Hexagon to co-develop and deploy technologies ranging from collision avoidance systems (CAS) to full haulage and drilling autonomy across its Chilean copper operations. The MoU covers joint exploration, development, validation and implementation of advanced fleet management, operator safety and automation solutions, with future site-specific agreements to formalise projects. For mine operators, this signals potential large-scale integration of Hexagon’s CAS and autonomous platforms into Codelco’s open-pit and underground fleets, with implications for traffic management design, training and change management.

Infrastructure designers are increasingly turning to immersive digital twins and extended reality (XR) to close the gap between CAD abstractions and real-world performance, moving beyond static 2D and 3D screens. By integrating live sensor data, construction sequencing and asset operation scenarios into interactive models, project teams can virtually walk through stations, tunnels or bridges, test maintainability clearances and rehearse complex lifts before site work. This shift demands new workflows, with geotechnical, structural and M&E inputs federated in real time rather than exchanged as periodic drawing sets.

Perkins Engines Company Ltd has appointed Lubumbashi-based Katanga Engineering SAS as an authorised Perkins distributor in the Democratic Republic of Congo, effective 1 January 2026. The deal targets support for high-hour diesel engines on mining haul trucks, gensets and auxiliary plant across copper and cobalt operations in Katanga and other provinces, leveraging Katanga Engineering’s existing field service teams and parts logistics. For mine operators, the move should shorten engine overhaul lead times and improve availability of OEM spares and diagnostics within the DRC rather than relying on cross-border support.

Hypex Bio has signed a long-term group agreement for Franzefoss Minerals AS to adopt its hydrogen peroxide-based explosive solutions across multiple quarry and limestone operations in Norway. The emulsion system replaces conventional ANFO and nitrate-based products, aiming to cut CO₂ and NOx emissions at the blast face and reduce residual nitrates in groundwater around benches and pit walls. For drill-and-blast engineers, the shift may require recalibrating charge design, sleep times, and initiation sequences to match the different energy profile and gas volumes of peroxide-based formulations.