Geomechanics.io

QazMoly is in talks to secure up to $240 million in US Export-Import Bank financing for its Drozhilov tungsten project in Kazakhstan, with funding conditional on 100% of tungsten off-take being sold to US buyers via UK-based Fosbury Capital as exclusive off-taker. The Drozhilov deposit also contains beryllium and molybdenum, and QazMoly must complete feasibility studies while EXIM conducts full legal and commercial due diligence before any funds are released. With tungsten prices up fivefold in a year and global demand projected to grow 8% annually to a $10-billion market by the mid-2030s, the project targets a tightening supply environment for tungsten carbide tooling and defence applications.

Numerical modelling of deep underground excavations using RS2 and the Confinement-Dependent Visco-Plastic Model (CVBM) is used to capture spalling in jointed rock masses where confinement drops and tangential stresses concentrate around excavation boundaries. The approach contrasts brittle spalling in massive, low-porosity rock with more ductile behaviour in highly jointed rock, explicitly representing joint orientation, spacing, and strength. For design, this enables more realistic prediction of depth of failure, damage zones, and support demand around tunnels and caverns at high stress ratios.

DELKOR India has completed a major revamp of Tata Steel’s 145 m² horizontal belt filter at the West Bokaro coal field, originally supplied in 2006, extending the life of one of the steelmaker’s largest filtration assets. The TAKRAF Group business upgraded key components and control elements to current DELKOR standards, improving cake washing and dewatering performance on fine coal. For plant engineers, the project shows the viability of large-scale refurbishment over full replacement for ageing vacuum belt filters in high-throughput coal circuits.

Enaex Argentina has commissioned a 100% electric mechanised emulsion charging unit at the Minera Santa Cruz San José underground gold-silver mine, a joint venture originally formed by Hochschild Mining and Minera Andes (now McEwen Mining). The battery-powered system replaces diesel charging units in production stopes, cutting local emissions and heat load in confined headings. For mine engineers, the move supports ventilation-constrained deepening and offers a reference case for fully electric blasting logistics in narrow-vein underground operations.

Chile’s Ministry of Health has formally authorised the use of copper slag as an artificial aggregate in infrastructure works, including road surfacing, turning a major smelting waste stream into a regulated construction input. The decree defines copper slag as a by-product of copper pyrometallurgy and allows its controlled use in pavements and other civil works, subject to health and environmental criteria. For Chilean miners and contractors, this opens a large-scale outlet for slag stockpiles and may alter aggregate sourcing, pavement design and leachate management practices.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed to develop what is billed as Europe’s first commercial stellarator nuclear fusion power plant in Bavaria, Germany, aiming to move beyond experimental devices such as Wendelstein 7-X towards grid-scale output. The project will require large, highly shielded reinforced concrete structures to house superconducting magnet systems and vacuum vessels, with stringent vibration control and thermal management. Early-stage design decisions will influence heavy-lift logistics, deep foundation requirements and long-term maintenance access for high-activation components.

Britain’s first continuous geothermal power plant has begun commercial operation in Cornwall, supplying baseload electricity to the grid for 24/7 generation rather than heat-only or pilot‑scale output. The project uses deep geothermal wells drilled several kilometres into hot granite, circulating water through a closed-loop system to drive a surface power plant via binary-cycle technology. For civil and geotechnical engineers, the scheme tests high‑temperature casing design, long‑term borehole stability in fractured rock, and integration of geothermal infrastructure with existing grid and planning frameworks in the UK.

Welsh Government has set a record £85M budget for flood and coastal erosion risk management in 2026/27, its largest single-year allocation for defences. Funding will support schemes under the National Strategy for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management, targeting high-risk communities along major estuaries and exposed coastlines. Designers can expect increased demand for reinforced concrete and rock armour sea walls, upgraded earth embankments, and higher-capacity culverts and outfalls to cope with more intense rainfall and storm surges.

Concerns over the long-term financial and operational sustainability of the Cairngorm funicular railway have been raised by the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee after an extended inquiry into Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s (HIE) management of the asset. The committee warns that ongoing capital works, maintenance and operating subsidies could leave the cost to the public purse outweighing transport, tourism and local economic benefits. Members also questioned the performance and resilience of the current operating company under winter-weather, reliability and demand uncertainties.

Bristol Airport has awarded Farrans a £30M contract to extend its terminal, forming part of a £400M phased enhancement programme to expand capacity and upgrade passenger facilities. The works will focus on enlarging the existing terminal footprint and reconfiguring internal layouts to improve passenger flow through security, check-in and departure lounges. Contractors and designers will need to manage construction adjacent to live airside and landside operations, with tight staging and night-time working likely to control disruption and maintain regulatory compliance.

Canada has directed only 11% of more than C$700 billion in mining capital since 2000 into critical minerals, leaving it with just 2% of global output despite 67 projects worth C$72.4 billion planned or under way and the potential to reach 14% share if all proceed. Structural barriers include a C$20–C$30 million funding gap between feasibility and FID, permitting timelines exceeding five years, and reliance on a single copper smelter at Glencore’s Horne complex, forcing most concentrates to China, which controls about 70% of global refining capacity. RBC points to sovereign co-investment, mineral corridors in regions such as Quebec’s lithium belt and Sudbury, and infrastructure co-funding that can cut break-even prices by 22–24%—including up to C$2.4 billion needed for Ontario’s Ring of Fire—as key levers to unlock projects.

Gunnison Copper has updated the PEA for its Gunnison project in Arizona, lifting post-tax NPV (8% discount) to US$1.95 billion at US$4.60/lb copper, with mine life extended to 21 years and post-tax IRR rising to 23% despite an 18% increase in initial capex to US$1.54 billion. The plan envisages 3.2 billion lb of copper cathode over life-of-mine, averaging 174 million lb/year for the first 15 years from an open-pit, heap leach operation using solvent extraction–electrowinning. About 83% of the US$692 million NPV uplift comes from operational changes, notably adding the Strong & Harris satellite deposit with 25 million tonnes and incorporating material sorting and optimisation.

Ontario is ramping up mining support with C$140 million for Ring of Fire road preparation, a C$500 million Critical Minerals Processing Fund, and billions earmarked for high-capacity transmission lines including the 230 km, 230 kV Greenstone line delivering 350–700 MW with 50% First Nations equity. Kinross Gold’s C$1.4 billion Great Bear project near Red Lake, targeting 518,000 oz/y at US$812/oz AISC by 2029, has been moved into the One Project One Process regime to cut permitting to two years. Engineers should expect accelerated approvals, grid upgrades and new processing capacity across northern Ontario.

Western governments are adopting a “China-light” industrial strategy, pouring tens to hundreds of billions into defence, semiconductors and critical minerals via tools such as the US Defense Production Act, CHIPS and Science Act ($53 billion), and the EU’s €43 billion European Chips Act and Critical Raw Materials Act. China’s integrated model still dominates midstream capacity, refining 68% of global nickel, 73% of cobalt, 95% of manganese, all spherical graphite for battery anodes, and over 90% of rare earth processing and magnet production. For mining and materials players, the key shift is policy focus from new mines to midstream conversion capacity, long-term offtake-style defence contracts, and allied coordination of minerals and materials flows.

Gold extended gains on Friday as the US–Iran nuclear standoff escalated, with spot prices up 1.2% to above $5,250/oz and silver jumping 6% to $94/oz. Bullion has rebounded from last month’s 10% single-day crash, remains about 20% higher year-to-date, and is holding technical support above $5,000/oz. Inflows into gold-backed ETFs this week have more than offset late-January outflows, while traders also price in potential 2026 US rate cuts flagged by Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee.

Dateline Resources is moving into heavy rare earths by acquiring the Music Valley project in Riverside County, California, covering 57 mining claims over 1,140 acres with historical USGS rock chips grading 6.69%–15.04% TREO and a fractionated HREE signature rich in yttrium and dysprosium. The deal includes a US$1 million investment in Fermi Critical Minerals, adding exposure to drill‑permitted uranium and rare earth projects in Wyoming and Colorado. Music Valley complements Dateline’s Colosseum project in the Mojave Desert, which hosts a 1.1‑million‑oz JORC‑2012 gold resource in a Mountain Pass‑style geological setting.

Demolition has begun on Winwood, the first of four eight-storey 1960s tower blocks at Sawyers Close, Dedworth, with J Mould using a high-reach demolition excavator to clear the site for Abri’s £176m regeneration. The Hill Group’s The Granges scheme will replace 192 existing flats with 413 new homes, with construction of the first 182 units already under way and initial handovers due in early 2027. Planning approval and additional land from the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead allow phased construction before full demolition of the remaining blocks between 2027 and 2030.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) has launched the ZX135-7EB, a 13‑tonne battery-electric excavator with 198 kWh lithium-ion batteries and a dual-mode system that can also run on a CEE 400 V AC three-phase grid connection for continuous operation. Targeted at urban and residential sites with strict noise and emission limits, it offers lower external sound levels, reduced maintenance downtime, and remote monitoring of battery status and motor load. Safety features include the Aerial Angle 270° camera system, and the machine carries both Hitachi and the emerging Landcros branding ahead of the 2027 rebrand.

Construction has begun on Cheadle Eco Park, a £25m, 115,000 sq ft light-industrial scheme for Stockport Council on a seven-acre brownfield site on Bird Hall Lane, comprising six units from 8,374 sq ft to 43,800 sq ft. Designed by AEW Architects to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and EPC A, the park will use air source heat pumps, natural ventilation and smart energy-efficient lighting. The development, backed by a £4.4m Town Fund grant, will be the UK’s largest purpose-built industrial and logistics scheme built entirely from sustainably sourced timber, cutting embodied carbon versus steel frames.

A 34-year-old Manchester plumber, Hannah Spencer, has won the Gorton and Denton by-election for the Green Party with 14,980 votes, taking 40.7% of the vote and a 27.5% swing. Reform polled 10,578 votes and Labour, which previously held the seat, dropped to third with 9,364 votes. Spencer, believed to be the first qualified plumber in the House of Commons and newly trained as a plasterer via a St Gobain intensive course, has pledged to champion tradespeople in parliament.

A new “energy infrastructure coordination levy” has been proposed in the House of Commons by a Suffolk MP to compel developers of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) to plan grid, cable and substation works jointly rather than as isolated schemes. The move responds to Suffolk communities facing overlapping onshore works from multiple offshore wind connections and transmission upgrades, with repeated trenching, haul road construction and temporary land take along similar corridors. For civil and geotechnical teams, the levy could drive shared route corridors, consolidated ground investigations and integrated construction phasing across competing NSIPs.

Power grid expansion in the North East of Scotland is being ramped up to connect large-scale offshore wind and North Sea energy projects into the UK transmission network. An experienced electrical engineer and IET member describes delivering new high‑voltage substations, long‑distance overhead lines and subsea cable links to move multi‑gigawatt outputs from coastal landing points to industrial centres. The work signals sustained demand for grid‑scale civil foundations, cable corridors, and substation platforms in challenging coastal and peatland ground conditions.

Replacement of the main rail bridge at Oxford station was re-sequenced and partially pre-built to fit an eight-day blockade window for the wider station upgrade, Network Rail’s senior engineer confirmed. The revised plan shifted significant works, including deck fabrication and bearing installation, away from the blockade, leaving the possession focused on bridge demolition, deck lift-in and track realignment. For contractors and designers, the job illustrates how tight possessions on a busy main line drive off-site assembly, modular bridge elements and highly constrained crane operations.

Stockport’s Greek Street roundabout, a key junction between the town centre and Edgeley, is scheduled to reopen on 27 March after prolonged closure linked to rail infrastructure upgrades beneath the junction. The works followed completion of improvements to the railway below in summer, requiring traffic management and diversions across this constrained urban corridor. Reopening restores a primary distributor route over the rail corridor, easing congestion and allowing normal access for construction traffic, buses and emergency vehicles through this part of the network.