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Australia has again ranked among the world’s top mining investment destinations, with multiple Australian jurisdictions placed near the top of global competitiveness tables for policy stability, geological prospectivity and permitting performance. International rankings cite low sovereign risk, established infrastructure around major iron ore, coal and critical minerals hubs, and a mature regulatory framework for mine approvals and rehabilitation bonds. For project developers, this signals continued favourable conditions for financing large-scale open-pit and underground expansions, particularly in battery metals and high-grade iron ore districts.

South32’s Hermosa zinc-silver project in Arizona has advanced towards US federal approval after the US Forest Service issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Record of Decision supporting development on Coronado National Forest land, including a primary access road, secondary dry-stack tailings facility and part of a 138 kV transmission line to be built by UniSource Energy Services. The preferred alternative is designed to avoid traffic near Patagonia, minimise land disturbance on a roughly 750-acre surface footprint, and use about 90% less water than many regional mines, while incorporating nearly 140 additional conservation, mitigation and monitoring measures. A 45-day objection period plus a possible 45-day resolution phase precede a Final Record of Decision expected in July, with Hermosa projected to support up to 900 jobs at peak production.

Luca Mining has intersected high-grade mineralisation below existing workings at its Tahuehueto underground mine in Durango, with DDH26-SU-01 cutting 7.6 m at 14.27 g/t gold, 46.64 g/t silver, 0.33% Cu, 2.57% Pb and 1.19% Zn from 80.9 m, and DDH26-SU-03 returning 13.2 m at 6.66 g/t gold from 42.7 m. The new zones lie about 30 m below Level 23, which already hosts underground infrastructure, and grades are several times the current ~4 g/t AuEq head grade from the 1,000 t/d mill commissioned in 2025. Luca has increased the 2026 exploration budget at Tahuehueto by 40% to $3.5 million, with 47 drill holes totalling roughly 10,400 m completed so far across the Creston and Santiago vein targets, where brecciated quartz–sulphide veins remain open down plunge.

Oklahoma is positioning itself as a critical minerals processing hub rather than a mining state, anchored by Emirates Global Aluminium’s proposed US$4 billion primary aluminium smelter at the Port of Inola on the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River system and backed by surplus low‑cost power from wind and natural gas. USA Rare Earth is building a vertically integrated rare earth magnet plant in Stillwater with about US$1.6 billion in public and private funding, while Stardust Power (NASDAQ: SDST) is advancing a lithium refinery in Muskogee with Sumitomo offtake and key permits secured. The cluster targets defence and aerospace demand around Tinker Air Force Base and other installations, aiming to plug the “missing middle” between raw mineral supply and finished components.

United States Antimony has secured approval to uplist from NYSE American to the New York Stock Exchange under ticker UAMY, with trading to start on 11 March and its share price jumping about 10%, valuing the company at US$1.4 billion. The Texas-based producer has also received US$27 million in US Defense Department funding to expand antimony extraction and refining, centred on a Montana smelter rated at 5 million lb/year of antimony metal. The company plans a fully integrated supply chain by adding ore extraction in Alaska for defence, battery and flame-retardant markets.

SANY is using CONEXPO 2026 to showcase an AI Service Assistant and remote-control systems aimed at keeping large excavators, rigid trucks and quarry loaders operating closer to design performance. The AI platform supports predictive maintenance and fault diagnosis across mixed fleets, while remote-control kits allow operators to run machines from offsite control rooms in high-risk areas such as highwalls, stockpile edges and crusher feed zones. For mine and quarry owners, the focus is on reducing unplanned downtime and extending component life rather than adding new iron.

Sandvik Mining’s Zeltweg plant has shipped the first Sandvik MC431 continuous miner to Australia after completing factory acceptance testing, extending the MC430 platform that has logged 13 years of mechanical cutting performance in South Africa. The MC431 is engineered for high-capacity roadway development in hard rock and coal, with upgraded cutting power and ground support integration aimed at improving advance rates and profile control. For Australian operators, the machine signals a shift towards more standardised, OEM-supported continuous mechanical cutting fleets in place of drill-and-blast in selected headings.

Codelco has signed a collaboration framework with Microsoft to evaluate joint initiatives in artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, automation and digital security as part of its digital transformation strategy. The agreement, signed by Codelco CEO Rubén Alvarado and Microsoft President Brad Smith, will focus on applying cloud-based analytics and AI tools across mine planning, processing and asset management. For engineers, the deal signals more data-driven optimisation of concentrators and smelters, tighter cybersecurity around OT networks, and potential expansion of predictive maintenance on critical mobile and fixed plant.

Weir has secured a contract to supply ENDURON® high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) for the tertiary crushing circuit in Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef Phase 2 concentrator expansion in South Africa. The HPGR circuit will be integrated as part of the Phase 2 flowsheet rather than relying solely on conventional cone crushing, targeting improved energy efficiency and finer product for downstream milling. For process engineers, the move signals continued adoption of HPGR technology on large-scale PGM–nickel concentrators to cut specific energy and potentially reduce overall comminution footprint.

DELKOR India has secured an EPC contract from Arab Potash Company to supply a 50 m diameter DELKOR Thickener for the Hot Leach Potash (HLP) circuit in the firm’s latest capacity expansion project. The large-diameter unit is designed for high-throughput liquid/solid separation in hot brine conditions, a critical bottleneck in potash crystallisation and recovery. For process and tailings engineers, the installation signals further scaling of HLP operations at Arab Potash’s Jordan facilities, with implications for water balance, underflow rheology and downstream evaporation capacity.

Cohda Wireless and Spectrum FiftyNine are deploying compact V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) modules at Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia to deliver real-time proximity awareness between heavy vehicles and personnel. The system integrates Cohda’s V2X software stack with Spectrum FiftyNine’s low-profile hardware, Roobuck cap lamps and Maptek’s mine planning and visualisation tools to create a unified situational awareness layer. For geotechnical and operations teams, this enables tighter traffic management in constrained headings and declines without relying solely on line-of-sight or radio voice calls.

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.

Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission Local Government Grant Program is allocating a further $2.4 million to councils to upgrade local road safety infrastructure. Bayside City Council will use its share to construct five raised “wombat” pedestrian crossings and reduce speed limits at a Brighton roundabout, targeting lower impact speeds and better visibility at conflict points. For designers and traffic engineers, the works signal continued state backing for vertical deflection devices and speed management on suburban collector roads.

Plastic pipe manufacturer Polypipe Building Services has invested £1.5m in automation, £3m in moulding machinery and £2.5m in extrusion technology at its 24-hour, five-day Aylesford plant, moving key lines to fully automated operation. Six-axis and Cartesian robots now handle production and packaging, while an IV4 AI vision camera counts parts and flags dimensional variation, ovality and moulding defects before dispatch. Operator loading has shifted from one operator per machine to typically one per four machines, with staff redeployed and further automation planned in the fabrication department.

Devonport Royal Dockyard Limited has been taken out of the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s “enhanced attention” regime after 12 years, returning the Plymouth nuclear dockyard to routine regulatory oversight. ONR cited sustained improvements in leadership, organisational capability, decision-making and internal assurance, addressing earlier safety issues linked to ageing facilities, construction activities and control of work. The regulator now judges DRDL to have sufficient capability and capacity to maintain safety performance across both major construction works and submarine maintenance, but will continue targeted monitoring to ensure gains are sustained.

Mace Group has completed the demerger and sale of its international consultancy arm, Mace Consult, to Goldman Sachs Alternatives, which now holds a majority stake while existing Mace shareholders retain a minority interest and the UK-focused contracting arm prepares to drop the Mace name. Mace Consult reported close to US$1bn revenue in 2025, with Mace Finance’s 2024 accounts showing £687m turnover for Consult versus £2.1bn for Construct, indicating substantial overseas consultancy operations. Chief executive Davendra Dabasia plans to use Goldman Sachs capital to scale particularly in North America and invest in digital tools for programme predictability, automation and lifecycle control.

Willmott Dixon has broken ground on The Stage, a £136m residential-led mixed-use scheme on the former Bute Street Shoppers car park site in Luton, delivering 292 apartments plus commercial units, a food hall/events space and a new public garden square. The project team includes WSP and Rider Levett Bucknall as employer’s agent and project manager, with Artelia UK as quantity surveyor, under Luton Council’s wider town centre regeneration programme. For contractors and consultants, the scheme signals a substantial pipeline of town-centre, brownfield, high-density work in the area.

Heathrow Airport has shortlisted five teams in its 2026 Early Careers Innovation Challenge, run with New Civil Engineer, to progress their concepts for future airport infrastructure and operations. The finalists, drawn from early-stage engineers and construction professionals, will now receive mentoring and technical support to refine proposals that could influence airside pavements, terminal asset management and passenger-flow design. For consultants and contractors working at Heathrow, the challenge signals a pipeline of fresh ideas likely to feed into upcoming upgrade and resilience projects.

Global EV battery capacity deployment passed 1 TWh in 2025, nearly quadruple 2021 levels, yet the raw material bill for lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and manganese in passenger EVs reached only $15.6 billion, still about half the 2022 peak. BYD’s all‑LFP, lower‑end line-up and heavy plug‑in hybrid mix kept average battery metals spend to $247 per EV (US$366 per BEV), versus Tesla’s US$1,082 and Volkswagen’s US$1,624 per BEV, with VW now the largest battery metals spender. GM’s NCMA‑heavy Ultium strategy yields an average US$1,664 per EV and is being retooled towards LFP, while Toyota’s HEV‑dominated portfolio limits spend to US$185 per vehicle.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King is urging Australian miners to accelerate gender diversity, arguing that women must be central to the sector’s future workforce and leadership. Speaking as the first woman to hold the resources portfolio since her swearing-in on 1 June 2022, King is pushing for more women in site-based roles, technical disciplines and board positions across iron ore, coal and critical minerals operations. Her stance signals growing political pressure on miners to hard‑wire diversity targets into workforce planning, training pipelines and contractor procurement.

Anglo American is deploying environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling across its Bowen Basin coal operations, including Capcoal, to verify fauna using rehabilitated waste dumps and tailings areas. Environment teams collect air, water and soil samples to detect species such as microbats, small mammals and birds moving through reshaped and revegetated landforms, complementing traditional trapping and camera surveys. The approach gives mine planners finer-grained data on habitat use and succession, informing design of final landforms, drainage lines and vegetation communities for progressive rehabilitation sign-off.

Maronan Metals has secured a mineral development licence for its Maronan silver project in north‑west Queensland, moving the high‑grade silver‑lead‑copper deposit closer to potential production. The licence allows the company to progress detailed feasibility work, mine design and permitting beyond its existing exploration tenure, de‑risking future decisions on underground access, processing flowsheets and tailings storage. For engineers, the approval signals upcoming demand for geotechnical modelling of deep sulphide orebodies, underground infrastructure design and regional water and waste management studies.

Global lithium demand could more than double to around 13 million tonnes by 2050 if the energy transition accelerates, signalling a prolonged supply crunch that favours existing producers and advanced projects. Analysts point to constrained new supply, long lead times for hard-rock and brine developments, and permitting bottlenecks as key drivers, with spodumene operations in Western Australia and brine fields in South America central to near-term output. For miners and project developers, the outlook supports investment in resource expansion, downstream conversion capacity, and cost control to weather price volatility.

Exploration activity is ramping up across Australia, with Rincon Resources, Hillgrove Resources and Auravelle Metals each progressing new drilling and resource work. Hillgrove is streamlining its portfolio to focus capital and rigs on the Kanmantoo copper project in South Australia, where existing underground and open-pit infrastructure offers near-term restart potential. Rincon and Auravelle are advancing early-stage copper–gold targets, signalling continued appetite for brownfield extensions and greenfield discoveries that could feed future mill capacity.