Geomechanics.io

Immersion of the first tunnel element on the Danish side of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel marks a major step in constructing the fixed 18km subsea link between Germany and Scandinavia. The immersed segment is part of the precast concrete element tunnel system being installed in a dredged trench across the Fehmarn Belt, designed to carry both motorway and rail traffic. This milestone confirms that marine ground improvement, trench dredging and element positioning systems are performing to specification under Baltic seabed and current conditions.

BHP and Rio Tinto have jointly released new research on large‑scale filtered tailings technology, focusing on improving filtration, stacking and water recovery performance for major iron ore and copper operations. The work examines scaling filter presses and dry‑stack systems from current capacities of tens of thousands of tonnes per day towards ultra‑large installations, addressing challenges such as filter cloth wear, cake consistency, stack stability and conveyor handling. For geotechnical and tailings engineers, the collaboration signals stronger backing for filtered and dry‑stacked designs over conventional upstream or centre‑line tailings storage facilities.

The Federal Government will invest an additional $387.4 million over four years in the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to accelerate mining-related R&D as the sector shifts towards lower-emission, higher-automation operations. Funding is expected to support work on ore-sorting technologies, advanced sensing and data analytics, and low-carbon processing routes, alongside environmental monitoring tools for tailings and water management. For operators and contractors, the move signals stronger backing for technology pilots and scale-up in areas such as remote operations centres and electrified mobile fleets.

Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority has recommended environmental approval for Covalent Lithium’s expansion of the Earl Grey lithium project at Mt Holland, a key hard‑rock operation feeding the Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery. The proposal covers increased open‑pit mining and associated waste rock and tailings storage, with conditions likely to focus on groundwater drawdown, waste landforms and biodiversity impacts in the northern Yilgarn. For geotechnical and environmental teams, the decision signals tighter scrutiny of pit dewatering regimes, TSF design and long‑term rehabilitation performance.

Iron ore generated $122 billion in sales from near‑record output of 864 million tonnes in Western Australia, confirming it as the state’s dominant commodity despite growth in lithium, nickel and rare earths. Pilbara operations such as Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue’s large‑scale open pits and rail‑to‑port chains continue to anchor investment in heavy‑haul rail, deep‑water export berths and large‑capacity crushing and screening plants. For contractors and consultants, iron ore remains the primary driver of bulk earthworks, pit slope design, haul road construction and port materials‑handling projects across the region.

Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation will start construction of the Jinbi solar project in Western Australia after securing a power purchase agreement with Rio Tinto to supply renewable electricity to its Pilbara iron ore operations. The Indigenous-led project will feed solar power into Rio’s existing network that supports mines, rail and port assets, reducing reliance on gas-fired generation and cutting Scope 2 emissions. For mine planners and asset managers, the deal signals further integration of large-scale renewables into remote, islanded mining grids in the Pilbara.

HSE has banned dry cutting of engineered stone in the UK and ordered a shift towards lower-silica materials after two worker deaths from silicosis in the sector. The guidance requires wet cutting or on-tool extraction with high-efficiency local exhaust ventilation for any remaining high-silica products, bringing practice closer to controls already used on tunnelling and concrete cutting. Fabricators and contractors now face mandatory process changes, material substitution reviews, and likely revisions to COSHH risk assessments and respiratory protection programmes.

Fiona Howie, former chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association and ex-senior leader at Campaign for National Parks and CPRE, has joined Cratus Group as director of communities and placemaking. She will lead long-term engagement on complex schemes including new communities, urban extensions, estate regeneration, town centre regeneration and major consultation programmes, where planning risk often hinges on local trust. Cratus’ planning and communities teams specialise in pre-application consultations and multi-year stakeholder engagement for large-scale projects such as residential estates, solar farms and proposed new towns.

HS2 Ltd has let an £856M contract to a Taylor Woodrow Infrastructure–Aureos Rail joint venture to design and build the Washwood Heath control centre and rolling stock depot in Birmingham, a key node for the curtailed London–West Midlands high speed section. The depot will house maintenance, stabling and operations for the HS2 train fleet on the former LDV industrial site, requiring extensive brownfield remediation and new rail systems integration with the existing network. The award signals continued progression of core operational assets despite the wider HS2 “project reset”.

Devon County Council has awarded Wills Bros Civil Engineering a £13.8M contract to construct the Cullompton Town Centre Relief Road in Devon, aiming to divert through‑traffic away from the constrained B3181 corridor. The scheme is expected to unlock planned housing and commercial development around Cullompton by improving access to junction 28 of the M5 and reducing congestion in the narrow historic high street. Geotechnical and civils teams can anticipate typical greenfield relief‑road challenges, including soft ground risk, drainage integration with the River Culm catchment, and tie‑ins to existing local roads.

A new footbridge spanning all platforms at Hither Green station in south London was lifted into place by Bam over the early May bank holiday as part of a £28M accessibility upgrade. The structure will deliver step‑free access across the station for the first time, with installation timed within a possession window to maintain rail operations. Follow‑on works will focus on completing lift shafts, tying the bridge into existing platforms and concourse, and integrating new vertical circulation into Network Rail’s station layout.

Network Rail will undertake major upgrades in the Severn Tunnel and wider Bristol area later this month, tackling what it describes as one of the harshest operating environments on the UK rail network due to high groundwater inflows and aggressive corrosion conditions. Works are expected to focus on track renewals, drainage improvements and asset protection within the 7km tunnel, where persistent water ingress and chloride-laden spray have historically driven intensive maintenance. The programme will require tightly planned possessions on this key London–South Wales corridor, with implications for geotechnical drainage design, waterproofing systems and long-term durability of steel and concrete elements.

The Department for Transport has opened the ninth round of its multimillion‑pound First‑of‑a‑Kind competition to fund technology‑led improvements across the UK rail network. The programme typically backs early‑stage demonstrators on live infrastructure, such as digital inspection tools, rolling stock retrofits and station accessibility systems, with individual awards previously reaching low‑million‑pound scales. Rail engineers and suppliers can use the scheme to de‑risk novel signalling, monitoring and materials solutions by securing part‑funding for design, on‑track trials and performance validation.

UK Steel has strongly welcomed the prime minister’s plan to take British Steel into public ownership, calling it a decisive move to secure a “strategically vital” part of the UK steel supply chain. Nationalisation of British Steel’s integrated works at Scunthorpe and associated rolling and finishing facilities is expected to stabilise domestic supply of structural sections, rail and plate for major infrastructure schemes. For civil and geotechnical contractors, a more secure UK steel base could reduce procurement risk on long-lead items and support tighter control of material specifications and certification.

TMC the metals company Inc has signed a contract with Allseas to develop, commission and operate what is billed as the first commercial polymetallic nodule collection system for the Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean. The agreement covers offshore nodule recovery using Allseas’ deep-sea collector technology integrated with a production vessel and riser system, moving beyond previous pilot-scale trials. For mining engineers, this signals a shift towards full commercial planning for subsea resource extraction, with implications for sediment plume management, equipment reliability at 4,000–5,000 m water depths and regulatory compliance under ISA rules.

JCHX has broken ground on a new underground high-end intelligent heavy mining equipment factory for its King Ant product line in the Daye Lake High-Tech Zone, Huangshi City, Hubei Province, expanding domestic capacity for loaders, trucks and other mechanised mining fleets. The facility, led by subsidiary JCHX (Hubei) Intelligent Equipment Co Ltd, will focus on intelligent, battery-electric and automation-ready machines tailored to Chinese hard-rock mines. For contractors and mine owners, the project signals stronger local supply options for advanced underground fleets and reduced reliance on imported OEMs.

XCMG Australia has hosted a Wirlu-Murra Enterprises delegation from the Pilbara at XCMG Group’s Xuzhou headquarters to deepen collaboration on mining equipment supply and support. The visit centred on large-scale haul trucks, excavators and autonomous-ready fleets for iron ore operations, along with discussions on parts warehousing, technician training and lifecycle service models tailored to remote Western Australian sites. For geotechnical and mining teams, the partnership signals closer integration of Traditional Owner enterprises into OEM selection, site maintenance contracts and long-term fleet planning.

Barrick Mining has launched a $3 billion share buyback and confirmed plans to spin off a new “North American Barrick” company holding its Nevada joint venture, Fourmile discovery and Pueblo Viejo mine, targeting completion by end‑2026. First‑quarter net earnings jumped to $1.6 billion as the average realised gold price surged 66% year‑on‑year to $4,823/oz and all‑in sustaining costs fell 4% to $1,708/oz, despite a 5% drop in output to 719,000 oz. Operations at the Loulo‑Gounkoto complex in Mali remain below historical production as open‑pit mining restarts are delayed by equipment deterioration, parts shortages and contractor DTP’s exit.

New drilling at Galiano Gold’s 90%-owned Asanko mine in Ghana has extended the Abore underground mineralised footprint up to 180 metres below the current resource and defined a new 200-metre-long zone beneath the main pit. Key intercepts include 53 metres at 3.9 g/t from 179 metres (ABDD26-477), 32 metres at 4.7 g/t from 420 metres (ABDD26-459) and 6 metres at 8.4 g/t from 457 metres (ABDD26-456), within a 30,000-metre programme now about halfway complete. Results will feed a revised life-of-mine plan and 2027 resource update for Asanko, which produced 121,191 oz. in 2025 and is guided at 140,000–160,000 oz. for 2026.

India’s government is urging citizens to halt gold jewellery purchases for 12 months to protect foreign-exchange reserves as Middle East conflict-driven oil prices widen the trade deficit and pressure the rupee. Jewellery demand reached about 440 tonnes in 2025, with a further 280 tonnes in bars and coins, and gold already makes up roughly 17% of India’s FX reserves, so even partial compliance could soften physical premiums, lift London vault inventories and marginally cap global prices. Enforcement is unclear, with past curbs pushing buying into recycling and smuggling rather than cutting total consumption.

The Metals Company has signed a commercial deal with offshore contractor Allseas to design, commission and operate a deep-sea polymetallic nodule recovery system in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, targeting first offshore production by late 2027. The system is planned for 3 million wet tonnes per year using two collector vehicles working at depths greater than 4 km, linked via a riser pipe to the converted drillship Hidden Gem and an at-sea transfer vessel. NOAA has deemed TMC’s US deep-sea mining application fully compliant, opening the way to a potential final permit by early 2027.

Dateline Resources’ bankable feasibility study for its 100%-owned Colosseum gold project in California’s Walker Lane Trend outlines 573,000 oz production over 10.4 years, with 75,000 oz per year for the first six years and peak output of 102,000 oz in year six. At a US$4,200/oz base case, the study reports pre- and post-tax NPVs of US$785 million and US$551 million (5% discount) and IRRs of 49.5% and 38.6%, from a US$313 million capex and a three-year post-tax payback. Located within the Mojave National Preserve and 10 km from MP Materials’ Mountain Pass rare earths mine, Colosseum also sits in an alkaline igneous corridor with stated rare earth potential, while Dateline’s shares fell 13.4% on the BFS release.

US federal critical minerals support under the Trump administration has reached about $18.6 billion across 60 financings, with roughly $15.9 billion in loans, $2.1 billion in equity and $615 million in grants, but BMO Global Commodities Research says the allocation is heavily skewed to rare earths despite their modest $3.5 billion global market. Major rare earth packages include a $565 million DFC facility for Brazil’s Serra Verde, USA Rare Earth’s planned $2.8 billion acquisition of the asset, and a $400 million US DoD stake in MP Materials. By contrast, tungsten projects such as Fireweed Metals’ Mactung and Northcliff Resources’ Sisson have received only about $15–16 million each, with antimony, nickel, cobalt, tantalum and tin seeing minimal support, signalling continued funding gaps for non-REE critical metals.

Silver surged as much as 7% to nearly $86/oz, a two‑month high, as stalled US‑Iran peace talks and a 10‑week Middle East conflict kept geopolitical risk elevated, while gold moved only about 0.4% higher. Analysts note silver has reclaimed two key technical levels over the past six weeks and is challenging its April peak, with a sustained break potentially opening a move towards the psychologically important $90/oz level. Despite dropping over 25% from its late‑January high of $121/oz, silver remains about 5% up year‑to‑date.