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Applications have opened for Queensland’s 2026 mine rehabilitation scholarships, targeting emerging researchers working on post-mining land use, tailings management and progressive rehabilitation of open-cut and underground sites across the state. The programme is expected to support projects on issues such as acid mine drainage control, cover system design for waste rock and tailings, and long-term stability of backfilled pits under Queensland’s tightening rehabilitation and financial assurance regime. For consultants and operators, the scheme signals future regulatory and technical priorities for closure planning and geotechnical design.

Rare Earths Norway has increased the Fen carbonatite complex resource by 81% to 15.9 million tonnes of indicated and inferred rare earth oxides, with 19% NdPr content, overtaking Sweden’s Per Geijer deposit (2.2 million tonnes REO) as Europe’s largest. The company targets late‑2031 start-up and 800 tonnes/year NdPr by 2032, equivalent to about 5% of EU demand, and already holds an extraction permit but still needs an operating permit. Fen also hosts niobium and thorium, positioning it for a potential “mine‑to‑magnet” value chain under the EU’s ResourceEU critical minerals plan.

Global lithium demand is projected by Wood Mackenzie to reach up to 13.2 million tonnes LCE by 2050 under a net-zero pathway, with market deficits starting as early as 2028 and total sector investment needs ranging from $104 billion (delayed transition) to $276 billion (net zero). Electric vehicles account for 72%–80% of demand across scenarios, with EV penetration reaching 75% by 2040 under current country pledges and 95% under net zero, while grid-scale energy storage grows 6%–7% annually. Recycling is forecast to supply 2.3–2.7 million tonnes LCE by 2050, leaving 6.7–8.5 million tonnes of new supply still required, implying sustained pressure on new mines, refineries and regionalised supply chains from the 2030s.

Shorter, more frequent commodity volatility cycles are eroding supercycle-based trading models and concentrating value among firms with advanced AI and strong control of physical flows, with sector-wide trading revenues at $69 billion in 2025, roughly double pre-pandemic levels. McKinsey estimates around $20 billion of optimisation value remains untapped in oil and gas products, and early agentic AI deployments are delivering 50–60% efficiency gains in support functions by automating post-trade operations and compressing deal cycles. In a January 2026 survey of 150 professionals, 49% favoured partnership-led expansion of trading capabilities, rising to 78% in Asia and 80% in the US, with metals, mining, oil and gas targeted for the largest investment increases.

Gold prices slumped as spot bullion dropped 6% to about $5,018/oz from a one‑month high above $5,400/oz, with futures down over 4% and silver sliding nearly 12% to below $80/oz amid a stronger US dollar and rising US bond yields. The move erased last week’s gains but still leaves gold more than 17% higher year‑to‑date, as the Iranian conflict, now in its fourth day, drives energy prices and complicates Federal Reserve rate‑cut expectations. XS.com and RJO Futures analysts frame the sell‑off as a liquidity event, with BNP and JPMorgan still projecting gold above $6,000/oz by year‑end.

Sunrise Energy Metals has completed the feasibility study for its Syerston scandium project in New South Wales, outlining Phase 1 production of 60 tonnes per year of scandium oxide (Sc2O3) over a 32‑year mine life at a capital cost of $120 million and C1 cash operating costs of $534/kg. The laterite deposit, about 450 km west of Sydney, contains nearly 46 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 414 ppm scandium, positioning it as one of the largest high‑grade scandium resources outside China. With China supplying 80–85% of global scandium and tightening exports, Syerston is being framed as a key non‑Chinese source for aerospace aluminium alloys, solid oxide fuel cells for AI data centres, and advanced electronics.

US Antimony has reported an SRK Consulting–prepared inferred resource of 14.62 million tonnes at 0.17% WO₃ (53.6 million lb contained) at its Fostung tungsten project, 70 km west of Sudbury, replacing a previous 12.4 million tonnes at 0.213% estimate. The company plans an initial open-pit operation leveraging existing infrastructure, followed by underground mining, and has applied for US Defense Production Act Title III funding to accelerate development. If built, Fostung could be the first tungsten ore source in the US or Canada since 2016, in a market where WO₃ prices have nearly tripled to about $1,890/t.

Zimbabwe’s immediate ban on exports of raw minerals, including lithium concentrates, is expected by Fitch’s BMI to tighten the lithium market only temporarily, with Zimbabwe currently supplying about 10% of global output and mine production now forecast at 131,100 tonnes LCE in 2026. Huayou Cobalt’s Arcadia plant, due online shortly, will process only its own concentrates, leaving other operators such as Sinomine Resources’ Bikita mine and the state-owned Kamativi mine to curb production until their planned lithium sulphate plants ramp up from mid-to-late 2027. BMI has lifted its 2026 Chinese lithium carbonate and hydroxide price forecasts to $13,500/tonne and $13,000/tonne respectively, warning that prolonged disruptions could sustain higher prices.

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.

Galliford Try has secured a £60m Defence Infrastructure Organisation contract to build a new munitions handling facility for the US Air Force at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. The scheme comprises three new munitions buildings providing storage, testing, maintenance and administrative space, forming a critical element of the base’s weapons logistics. This first USAF commission for Galliford Try builds on its previous RAF projects at Marham and Coningsby, signalling continued demand for complex, secure defence infrastructure in eastern England.

Breedon has completed its acquisition of Booth Precast Products in Abbeyleix, County Laois, adding a long-established sand and gravel quarry and processing plant that has supplied the Irish construction market for over 25 years. The deal, agreed in December 2025 and cleared by the Republic of Ireland’s Competition Authority, secures additional mineral reserves to serve the growing Dublin market. Integration of Booth’s concrete operations gives Breedon Ireland a more vertically integrated aggregates-to-concrete supply chain for regional infrastructure and building projects.

Caddick Construction Group has appointed former Wates north commercial director Mark Kearney as commercial director for its specialist subcontracting arms CCL Facades and Caddick Civil Engineering, based across the Wakefield and Durham offices. Kearney, who previously spent 25 years with Keepmoat and later Engie following its 2017 acquisition, is tasked with driving growth by tightening internal efficiencies, systems and processes, and aligning commercial strategy with the managing directors. The move signals a push to sharpen work-winning strategy and scale subcontracting turnover while maintaining sustainable delivery capacity.

Work has started on a £24m regeneration in Derker, Oldham, where Seddon will build 132 carbon-neutral homes across five brownfield sites for Hive Homes, funded by Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Brownfield Land Fund. The scheme combines 21 affordable rent units, 23 shared ownership and 88 open-market properties, using timber frames, roof-mounted solar PV and smart energy systems, plus whole-house heat recycling to exceed the Future Homes Standard. Phased delivery runs from first completions at London Road in October 2026 to full build-out by spring 2028.

Red Construction Group is targeting expansion in luxury hospitality work, appointing former InterContinental Hotels Group capital projects lead Michael Walsh as strategic director to build on schemes such as the refurbishment of London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. The London-based contractor has also hired its first full-time group finance director, ex-Kier senior finance leader Alastair Gordon-Stewart, as turnover climbs towards a £200m target (up from £115m in 2024 to £171m last year). The reshaped leadership is geared to controlled growth and tighter financial governance rather than rapid volume chasing.

Bovis Construction (Europe) has secured a £200m PCSA to refurbish and extend 10 Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange, including a new glass atrium making the daily market opening and closing ceremonies visible from the public realm. The scheme adds roof extensions, an events pavilion and multiple terraces and balconies with views over St Paul’s Cathedral, while retaining more than 95% of the existing structural frame and façade in line with circular economy principles. The project targets BREEAM Excellent and NABERS 5* ratings, with completion due in Q4 2028.

Kier has reported its first average net cash position in 13 years, ending HY26 with £16.8m net cash versus £37.6m net debt a year earlier, on revenue of £2,012m and a 14% rise in pre-tax profit to £32.6m. The order book has reached a record £11.6bn, covering 94% of forecast full-year revenue, with Infrastructure Services revenue up 5% to £1,083m and operating profit up 9% to £37.8m, while Construction revenue slipped 1% to £920m and operating profit fell 12% to £25.6m. Backed by sustained cash generation, the board has completed a £20m share buyback, approved a further £25m programme over 12 months, and increased the interim dividend.

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 New Hospital Programme has appointed 10 major contractors, including Skanska Construction UK, Laing O’Rourke Delivery, Kier Construction and Integrated Health Projects (Sir Robert McAlpine/Vinci JV), to a 12‑year Hospital 2.0 Alliance framework for new hospitals in England worth an estimated £37bn. The alliance will use a standardised, industrialised delivery model intended to give contractors a long, predictable pipeline for offsite manufacture, repeatable clinical layouts and modular MEP solutions. For civil and structural teams, the framework signals large‑scale, repeatable hospital platforms where groundworks, substructures and envelope systems can be optimised and replicated across multiple sites.

Scottish Water has published its final SR27 business plan proposing £13.4bn of investment between 2027 and 2033, prioritising asset maintenance and system resilience rather than major new capacity. The programme targets ageing water and wastewater infrastructure exposed to climate-driven extremes, including higher-intensity rainfall and drought risk, and to shifting population centres that are stressing existing networks. For civil and geotechnical designers, this signals a pipeline of rehabilitation works on buried mains, treatment works structures and flood resilience upgrades, with a premium on long-life materials and constructability on constrained brownfield sites.

National Highways is entering the final phase of a £25M technology upgrade to the A38 Saltash Tunnel, a key 410m route under the River Tamar linking Plymouth and south‑east Cornwall, with major civil works now complete and new safety systems being commissioned. Engineers are installing upgraded tunnel control, ventilation and fire‑safety equipment, alongside improved CCTV and incident detection, to modernise an asset that carries high seasonal traffic loads. The works aim to reduce unplanned closures and improve resilience for this strategic single‑bore road tunnel.

Government officials have rejected claims from MPs that the Department for Business and Trade has been holding undisclosed meetings with Chinese steelmaker Jingye, owner of British Steel’s Scunthorpe works. The dispute comes amid ongoing uncertainty over UK steel capacity, with concerns about blast furnace closures, future electric arc furnace investment, and security of supply for major infrastructure schemes requiring long-span bridge girders, heavy plate and rail sections. For civil contractors and designers, any disruption to domestic steel output could affect procurement risk, lead times and price volatility on large projects.

Rock Tech Lithium and Siemens Canada have signed a non-binding MoU to develop digitalised lithium conversion capacity for Rock Tech’s planned converter in Ontario, using Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio, including COMOS, gPROMS and PCS 7 for integrated engineering and process control. The partnership targets model-based design, advanced process simulation and automation across multiple project phases, aiming to optimise energy use, reagent consumption and plant uptime. For engineers, this signals early integration of OEM-grade digital twins and control architecture into a greenfield lithium chemicals facility in Canada’s critical minerals supply chain.

Rio Tinto is proceeding with construction of a pilot plant in Quebec to extract primary gallium from its alumina refining process, backed by a conditionally approved contribution from Natural Resources Canada under the Global Partnerships Initiative. The project, developed with Indium Corporation, follows successful first gallium extraction in May 2025 using process streams from Rio Tinto’s alumina refineries. If scaled, the technology could turn refinery residue and intermediate liquors into a new critical metal stream without major changes to existing Bayer process infrastructure.

Florence Copper in Arizona has produced its first copper cathodes from Taseko Mines’ new commercial in-situ copper recovery (ICSR) operation coupled with a solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) plant, following electrowinning start-up in late February. The project uses in-situ leaching of a deep porphyry deposit and on-site SX/EW to generate LME-grade cathode without a concentrator, tailings storage facility or smelter. For geotechnical and hydrogeological teams, the move to full commercial ICSR-SX/EW operation sharpens focus on leach-wellfield design, solution containment and long-term groundwater management.