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Energy Fuels has produced its first 1 kg of 99.9% pure terbium oxide from monazite ore at the White Mesa mill in Utah, following December’s 29 kg output of 99.9% dysprosium oxide, and is targeting commercial-scale recoveries from 2027. A new heavy rare earth circuit at White Mesa could start as early as 2025, designed for up to 35 tpa dysprosium, 12 tpa terbium and 850–1,000 tpa NdPr, with a Stage Two expansion by 2029 aiming for >6,000 tpa NdPr, 80 tpa terbium and 288 tpa dysprosium. In parallel, Ucore Rare Metals has signed a non-binding deal to supply NdPr and dysprosium oxides to Vulcan Elements’ planned 10,000 tpa NdFeB magnet plant in North Carolina, underpinning a prospective fully domestic US rare earth magnet chain.

Gold jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, with spot prices briefly touching $4,600/oz before consolidating around $4,500/oz, as a temporary halt to US military strikes on Iran and the prospect of talks to end the war eased recent Middle East risk. Silver tracked the move, rising to nearly $74/oz, while gold’s earlier nine-day losing streak had already wiped over 13% off prices as investors sold to cover losses and brace for higher rates. The World Gold Council still expects central banks to buy about 850 tonnes in 2026, after investment demand surged 84% in 2025 to a record 2,175 tonnes.

Gold mine output hit a record 3,672 tonnes in 2025 as the Nevada Gold Mines JV between Barrick (61.5%) and Newmont (38.5%) retained top spot with 2,595 koz, despite a 3% year-on-year drop and a brewing dispute over alleged diversion of resources to Barrick’s Fourmile project. Uzbekistan’s Muruntau (1,708 koz, +4%) and Russia’s Olimpiada (1,357 koz, -6%) completed the top three, while Grasberg’s production halved to 937 koz after a September 2025 mudslide killed seven workers and forced force majeure. New entrants and risers included Polyus’ Blagodatnoye at 736 koz (+47% on Mill‑5 ramp‑up) and B2Gold’s Fekola at 530.8 koz (+35.1%), signalling where near‑term volume growth is concentrated.

Rio Tinto has produced the final diamonds from the Diavik mine beneath Lac de Gras in Canada’s Northwest Territories, closing a 2003–2026 operation that yielded more than 150 million carats from four kimberlite pipes mined by combined open-pit and underground methods. Economic reserves are exhausted, with the remote site 220 km south of the Arctic Circle accessible only by air and seasonal winter roads, and final rough parcels will be polished and sold through 2026 via Rio’s Select Diamantaires network. Closure and land reclamation, planned since pre-production, will run to 2029 followed by post-closure monitoring, as Gahcho Kué remains the territory’s last operating diamond mine to about 2030.

Makor Resources is entering Zambia’s copper sector with a phased US$20–30 million programme across greenfield licences in Kasempa, Mkushi, Mumbwa, Kitwe and Ndola, front-loaded with US$2–3 million this year for integrated geophysics, remote sensing and systematic sampling to tighten target definition. The Australia-based firm, led by American entrepreneur Brooke Bibeault, plans to drill only “high-confidence” targets and progress district-scale mineralised systems to development-ready status. Zambia’s government, aiming to triple national copper output by 2031, is positioning Makor as a model investor on governance and community engagement.

CW Plant Hire has expanded its fleet with 20 additional Kubota U50-5 compact excavators, each weighing 4,775 kg and offering a 3,370 mm maximum digging depth and 5,850 mm forward reach. The five-tonne, zero tail swing machines, powered by 40.4 kW diesel engines and equipped with full-width dozer blades for added lifting stability, target confined urban construction sites. Supplied by Boss Plant Sales, the deal takes CW’s Kubota count to around 300 within a UK fleet of more than 1,000 excavators ranging from 800 kg to 22 tonnes.

Miller Homes has awarded St Helens-based contractor GRS the full civil engineering package for its Omega housing development on the former RAF Burtonwood airfield in Warrington, covering roads, sewers and all groundworks. The contract, GRS’s first with Miller Homes, was contested by multiple regional civils firms and is seen by owner-managing director Tom Keane as a test of the company’s capability to operate “at full scale”. GRS will mobilise plant and crews on site shortly, with further project awards expected in the coming weeks.

Planning consent has been granted for Bouygues UK’s redevelopment of LSE’s Bankside House into a 1,945-bed student residence at 24 Sumner Street, SE1, comprising three stepped towers of 24, 26 and 28 storeys linked by two low-rise pavilions around landscaped courtyards. The all-electric scheme targets BREEAM Excellent (aspiring to Outstanding), with rooftop PV and high-performance insulation designed to limit operational energy to 45–55 kWh/m²/year. Bouygues aims for over 99% construction waste diversion from landfill and at least 20% recycled or reused materials by value.

Leadership of the 3.2GW Hinkley Point C nuclear construction project will pass to Mark Hartley on 1 July, as EDF appoints its current managing director of nuclear operations to replace long-serving project chief executive Stuart Crooks. Hartley previously spent five years as Hinkley Point C technical director, while his current role will be taken by John Munro, now director of nuclear operations and former station director at Torness and Heysham 2. Crooks will stay involved as a non-executive board member for Sizewell C and EDF’s nuclear operations, and as advisor to the Cottam SMR project in Nottinghamshire.

Morgan Sindall Construction has begun phase-two works on a £13.4m replacement teaching block at RAAC-affected Birchington Church of England Primary School in Kent, delivering a two-storey, 1,455 sqm facility with 10 classrooms, a hall, ICT suite and extended hard-play areas by summer 2027. The timber-frame structure will be fabricated off site, use bio-solar roofing with extensive PV panels, and be powered by ground source heat pumps, with embodied carbon tracked via the CarboniCa tool. Reclaimed bricks from demolished buildings will be reused as façade detailing, supported by Encore Environment’s waste management input and Morgan Sindall’s 10-tonne carbon challenge.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries and NEC are jointly developing an AI and computer vision system that uses camera feeds from hydraulic excavators and SHI’s SHICuTe ICT/IoT platform data to automatically detect “risk scenes” and generate structured near-miss reports. NEC’s 2023 video recognition and generative AI technology, previously used for road traffic accident analysis, will fuse time- and location-stamped video with machine operating logs as multimodal data to characterise hazardous and prohibited behaviours. Following a successful proof of concept in September 2025, full development starts April 2026, with global deployment targeted for broader construction-site safety management.

AtkinsRéalis has secured a £98.5m Network Rail contract to upgrade signalling and telecoms over 43 km of the Wessex Route near Portsmouth, covering 11 stations, 10 interlockings and four level crossings. The three-year programme will relock and recontrol the Havant Area Signalling Centre to the Basingstoke Regional Operating Centre, replacing obsolete systems to cut signalling-related delays for passenger and freight services. Delivered under the Southern Integrated Delivery programme and the £4bn Train Control Systems Framework, the works form part of a wider £2bn Wessex modernisation to 2029.

Government plans to promote supermarket-sold plug‑in solar panels, with Lidl preparing low-cost balcony units, are drawing strong safety warnings from Hollis energy director Stuart Patience and trade bodies ECA and NFRC. Concerns centre on non-competent DIY installation into unknown domestic circuits, lack of UK-specific product testing, fire risk from PV and potential add‑on battery storage (thermal runaway, unextinguishable high‑rise fires), and extra loading and combustibles on balconies. Critics argue current grid connection rules, building safety regimes and accreditation frameworks for rooftop and façade systems are not configured for mass plug‑in deployment.

Tony Gee and Partners chief executive Alasdair Fowler argues that civil engineers must tackle systemic issues in UK infrastructure delivery, including fragmented risk allocation between clients, designers and contractors and short-term procurement focused on lowest capital cost. He calls for earlier contractor involvement, integrated design–build teams and longer-term alliancing frameworks to reduce rework, claims and programme overruns on major schemes such as highways and rail upgrades. Fowler also stresses that better data on whole-life performance and carbon, aligned with NEC contracts, should drive design decisions rather than purely initial cost.

UK steel imports will be cut by 60% from 1 July under the government’s new Steel Strategy, with any volumes above the reduced tariff-rate quotas facing a 50% duty. The move is likely to raise prices for rebar, structural sections and plate used in major UK infrastructure and building projects, particularly where designs rely on imported grades or mill sizes. Contractors and designers may need to recheck cost plans, procurement schedules and material specifications for projects tendering or breaking ground in late 2026.

A prototype quantum navigation system has been tested on a UK mainline train, claimed as the first deployment of quantum inertial sensing on a national railway network. Developed to provide ultra-precise positioning without GPS, the system uses quantum accelerometers and gyroscopes to track train movement through changes in atomic states. For rail engineers, successful adoption could tighten headways, support more accurate signalling and traffic management, and maintain navigation resilience in tunnels, deep cuttings and urban canyons where satellite signals are unreliable.

Wales faces mounting capacity and resilience pressures across energy, water, transport, digital and circular-economy infrastructure, with an independent assessment for the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales calling for a fundamental overhaul of planning, funding and skills systems. The review points to fragmented decision-making between Welsh Government, local authorities and regulators, and warns that current investment pipelines and consenting processes are too slow to deliver long-life assets such as grid upgrades, strategic rail and road corridors, and wastewater treatment improvements. For engineers, the message is to expect tighter scrutiny on whole-life carbon, resilience and regional coordination in future Welsh schemes.

Macmahon Holdings has signed a Letter of Intent with Manuka Resources to restart open-pit mining at the Wonawinta silver project in the Cobar Basin, central west New South Wales, with production targeted from May 2026. The agreement positions Macmahon as preferred mining contractor for the brownfield operation, which previously focused on shallow oxide silver ore and existing heap leach infrastructure. Geotechnical and mine planning teams will need to update pit designs, wall stability assessments and water management for re-entry into partially rehabilitated pits and legacy waste dumps.

Rio Tinto has agreed a new power deal with the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments to secure long‑term electricity supply for the Boyne aluminium smelter at Gladstone beyond its current contract. The partnership is aimed at keeping the smelter internationally cost‑competitive, building on existing power purchase arrangements rather than relying on short‑term spot pricing. For process engineers and planners, the deal reduces medium‑term energy price and supply risk for one of Australia’s largest aluminium smelting operations, stabilising load demand in the Gladstone grid.

3ME Technology has secured IECEx hazardous area certification for its BladeVOLT® lithium-ion battery system to the IEC 60079 series, enabling use on electric mobile equipment in gassy underground mines previously limited to diesel or tethered power. The intrinsically safe design targets Group I mining atmospheres, allowing OEMs to integrate high‑energy battery packs into flameproof or explosion-protected platforms without separate local certification. This opens a compliant pathway for battery-electric loaders, trucks and utility vehicles in coal and other gas-prone operations seeking to cut diesel emissions and heat load.

Sandvik has secured five AutoMine orders from Byrnecut, deploying AutoMine Multi-Lite systems at the Gwalia, Ulysses, Youanmi and Gossan Valley underground mines in Australia and the Navachab gold mine in Namibia. The contracts extend Sandvik’s automation platform across multiple jurisdictions and orebody types, enabling tele-remote and multi-machine control of Sandvik loaders and trucks from centralised control rooms. With these installations, most of Byrnecut’s global underground operations will now run Sandvik’s AutoMine architecture, simplifying fleet standardisation, training and support.

Datamine has acquired Mineware Africa and Mineware Consulting to expand its mine management software suite and in‑house advisory capability across exploration, resource modelling, mine planning and operations control. The deal adds Mineware’s production accounting, dispatch and short-interval control tools, along with its implementation consultants, into Datamine’s existing end-to-end digital mining platform. For engineers, the move signals tighter integration between planning, fleet management and production data, potentially simplifying brownfield system upgrades and multi-site standardisation.

BHP Chief Digital Officer Mikko Tepponen argues that falling discovery rates and more complex orebodies are pushing miners towards data-centric decision-making, from exploration targeting to multi-decade capital allocation. He points to integrating geological, geophysical and drilling datasets into unified cloud platforms and using machine learning models to rank targets and optimise mine plans under multiple regulatory and ESG constraints. Tepponen stresses that value comes from linking these AI tools directly to operational decisions, such as dynamic cut-off grade strategies and real-time processing adjustments, rather than from pilots in isolated data science teams.

First Quantum Minerals has filed a new NI 43-101 Technical Report for its Taca Taca porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum project in Argentina’s Puna region, again incorporating the option of trolley-assist haulage for the open pit. The study continues to evaluate overhead electric trolley lines on key ramp segments to cut diesel consumption and unit costs for large ultra-class haul trucks. For mine planners and electrical engineers, the report signals ongoing commitment to high-capacity pit electrification rather than a purely diesel truck fleet.