Geomechanics.io

Aeris Resources has reported a 62 per cent jump in first-half FY26 net profit to $25.6 million, with cash on hand rising to $87.9 million, driven by stronger copper output and prices from its Tritton operations in New South Wales. Group copper production reached 13,000–14,000 tonnes for the half, with all-in sustaining costs held near prior-period levels despite higher development spend at Tritton’s Budgerygar and Avoca Tank underground mines. The stronger balance sheet gives Aeris more room to fund mine-life extension drilling and incremental plant upgrades without relying on new debt.

Alkane Resources has reported multiple high‑grade antimony–gold intercepts at the Kendal prospect, adjacent to the Youle lode at its Costerfield operation in central Victoria, signalling a potentially significant extension of the narrow-vein system. The discovery targets antimony, a critical mineral used in advanced military and defence applications, alongside high-value gold grades typical of Costerfield-style mineralisation. For mine planners and geotechs, the proximity to existing Youle infrastructure suggests scope for incremental underground development and resource expansion rather than a greenfield build.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2026 WA Mining Conference & Exhibition in Perth, following a record 2025 event that drew strong attendance from mine operators, OEMs and METS suppliers across Western Australia’s iron ore, gold and battery minerals sectors. The 2026 program is expected to again focus on automation, decarbonisation and electrification of haulage and processing fleets, alongside data-driven mine planning and remote operations. For engineers, the event offers concentrated access to equipment demonstrations, brownfield upgrade case studies and regulatory updates relevant to WA’s large-scale open-pit and underground operations.

Chile’s incoming right‑wing government under José Antonio Kast is merging the Mining and Economy ministries and handing the combined portfolio to agronomist Daniel Mas, unsettling a sector facing an estimated $105 billion in investment to 2034 and already battling a “cursed” permitting system where major projects can need 500+ permits. The shift coincides with Chile’s first critical minerals strategy, expanding focus beyond copper and lithium to 14 minerals including molybdenum, rhenium, cobalt and rare earths. Analysts warn that without faster approvals and incentives for exploration, Chile risks missing the current price cycle as copper output fell 2% in 2025 amid declining grades and ageing deposits.

Fuerte Metals’ Coffee gold project in Yukon now carries an after-tax NPV of $2.3 billion and 47.8% IRR at $3,620/oz, rising to $4 billion NPV and 67% IRR at $5,000/oz, on initial capex of C$983 million plus C$1.72 billion including sustaining capital. The 13‑year, open‑pit heap‑leach operation is planned to produce 249,000 oz/a for the first five full years (217,000 oz/a LOM) at AISC of $1,274/oz, drawing on 80 Mt at 1.15 g/t Au M&I and 21.2 Mt at 1.17 g/t inferred. Key infrastructure includes a C$71.3 million Northern Access Route from Dawson City, with 40,000 m of drilling and a feasibility study due Q4 2026 ahead of a 2027 construction decision.

Ero Copper’s Furnas project in Pará, Brazil, has delivered a first PEA outlining a 24-year, four-zone operation producing about 1.2 million tonnes of copper, 2 million oz. of gold and 9 million oz. of silver, with average copper-equivalent output of 108,000 tonnes per year over the first 15 years. Using long-term prices of $4.60/lb copper, $3,300/oz gold and $40/oz silver, the study reports an after-tax NPV8 of $2 billion, 27% IRR and initial capex of $1.3 billion (~$16,000/t CuEq). The 2,400-hectare Carajás property, 50 km from Vale’s Salobo mine, carries 275.6 Mt indicated at 0.83% CuEq and 195.9 Mt inferred at 0.76% CuEq from 28,000 metres of Phase 1 drilling.

Hudbay Minerals has secured amended environmental permits from British Columbia’s Major Mines Office for the three-phased New Ingerbelle expansion at the Copper Mountain open pit, extending mine life into 2040 and targeting a 90% increase in copper output via nested pushback pits into the historical Ingerbelle pit. The project is expected to add about 750,000 tonnes of copper, 900,000 oz gold and 5.5 million oz silver from 2027–2037, before low‑grade stockpile re‑handling and closure from 2036–2040. Copper Mountain currently runs a 45,000‑tonne‑per‑day crushing–grinding–flotation plant and produced 22,445 tonnes of copper in 2025.

Hycroft Mining’s share price jumped more than 12% to a one‑month high of US$47.47 after a filing showed Eric Sprott bought a further 150,000 shares at US$42.05 each, lifting his stake to about 36.9 million shares, or 44.45% of the company. The Nevada mine developer, pivoting from historic heap leach operations to large‑scale milling of sulphide ores under existing permits and infrastructure, now carries a market capitalisation of US$3.8 billion, up from US$50 million a year ago. An updated resource statement reports 16.4 million oz gold and 562.6 million oz silver measured and indicated, including 90.2 million oz high‑grade silver with underground potential.

Europe’s delayed “Buy European” single-market legislation, now due 4 March, is being criticised for focusing on finished goods while ignoring upstream critical minerals that underpin industrial sovereignty. Michael Wurmser, founder of Norge Mineraler, contrasts EU inaction with the US DFC-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium’s move to buy 40% of Glencore’s Mutanda and Kamoto copper-cobalt assets in the DRC, valuing them at about US$9 billion. He argues Europe has sizeable in‑bloc potential in copper, lithium, high‑purity alumina, phosphate and titanium that must be integrated into industrial policy.

Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum will build Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, a 750,000‑tonne‑per‑year smelter at Inola that will more than double current US primary aluminium output and be the first new US smelter since 1980. EGA will hold 60% of the joint venture and Century 40%, with construction targeted to start by end‑2026 and first metal by around 2030, creating 4,000 construction and 1,000 permanent jobs. US Aluminum is separately evaluating a co‑located fabrication plant to convert liquid metal into products for electrical, defence, aerospace, automotive and machinery applications.

The Construction Leadership Council board is being expanded from nine to 15 members as government scraps its separate construction advisory panel, adding civil service figures including NISTA chief executive Becky Wood and Cabinet Office markets director Clare Gibbs alongside industry sponsor for people & skills Mark Farmer. New seats are allocated to each of the four strategic workstreams and four sector groups, bringing in ICE director general Janet Young for infrastructure, HBF chief executive Neil Jefferson for house-building, NHIC chief executive Anna Scothern for domestic RMI, and Scape chief executive Mark Robinson for places, assets and commissioning. A new health, safety & wellbeing group led by Berkeley Group’s Karl Whiteman and the planned 2026 CLC Strategy and Construction Industry Workforce Plan signal tighter central government influence over construction policy and skills planning.

Premier Technical Services Group has appointed Craig Doig as managing director of its water treatment division, adding senior leadership capacity to a business that also delivers rope access, façade maintenance, electrical services and fire safety systems. Doig joins from Equans, part of Bouygues Group, where he oversaw a £150m regional facilities management operation spanning Scotland, northern England and Ireland. His remit will centre on scaling PTSG’s compliance-led water treatment services, where robust operational control and documentation are critical for building services, Legionella risk management and asset performance.

Akela Ground Engineering has delivered a full precast foundation system for eight BESS units and two PCS units at Emtec Energy’s Sandwich site in Kent, installing over 800 m of 200 × 200 mm driven precast piles to depths of up to 15 m in under five days and 220 m of ABeam ground beams in a further two days. The pinned-joint ABeam system removed the need for in situ concrete, pile caps, tie bars and follow-on trades, enabling a weather-independent, fully off-site manufactured solution delivered in under eight weeks. Use of Akela’s JX piling fleet cut working platform thickness and excavation volumes, reducing programme risk, site traffic and embodied carbon on a live, congested site with soft superficial deposits and biomass surcharge.

The British Museum has appointed EDF subsidiary Dalkia as principal contractor to deliver a new low-carbon energy centre, replacing the existing gas-fired boiler plant with a 5.1MW air-source heat pump, a 7MW water-source heat pump and a 900kW electric back-up boiler. Dalkia will deliver the full MEP package, overhaul existing infrastructure and manage civil and architectural works across the estate as part of Sir Robert McAlpine’s wider modernisation programme. The project includes a new high-voltage ring main, relocation of the HV intake substation, low-temperature hot water primary services and sub-mains rewiring, targeting a 1,700-tonne annual carbon reduction.

A new Rebuilding the UK’s construction workforce report from Age Irrelevance and ProAge proposes a ConstructED model that keeps older trades and professionals on site longer by shifting them into teaching, mentoring and assessor roles rather than straight retirement. With one in three UK construction workers now over 50, a 14% workforce contraction since 2019 and nearly 50% apprenticeship non-completion, the model sets out funded pathways for experienced workers to gain teaching qualifications and take fractional education roles. The authors estimate that if 10% of the 625,000 workers due to retire in 17 years moved into such roles, the Treasury could gain over £2bn in fiscal value within a decade.

Lower Thames Crossing has signed an £80m contract with GeoPura to supply 2,500 tonnes of green hydrogen, intended to displace more than 12 million litres of diesel during construction of the £11bn scheme. GeoPura will handle on-site storage and dispensing, with six hydrogen-powered generators already charging batteries for electric plant in Essex and a JCB hydrogen-fuelled backhoe loader trialled on survey works in Kent. The deal, sourced from electrolysis at sites including the HyMarnham Power facility on a former coal station, signals large-scale hydrogen logistics now being tested on a live UK megaproject.

Gardiner & Theobald has acquired a majority stake (over 50% but under 75%) in Belfast-based quantity surveyor WH Stephens, a consultancy founded in 1865 that provides project management, cost management, building surveying and QS services across Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. The deal follows G&T’s own majority acquisition by Canadian investment firm Hennick & Company in April 2024, signalling further consolidation in UK and Irish cost consultancy. WH Stephens’ existing management, led by managing director Denis McCotter, retains a minority share and day-to-day operational autonomy, aiming to pursue larger, more complex public and private sector commissions.

AI tools that auto-generate options for 2D drawings, BIM models and outline design calculations in hours instead of weeks are forcing consultants to rethink fee structures built around the billable hour. Senior engineers may shift from producing drawings to curating AI outputs, validating load paths, checking code compliance and managing design risk, while fewer junior staff are needed for repetitive drafting and quantity take-off. Competitive advantage is likely to hinge on proprietary workflows, training data and QA processes, rather than simply having access to generic AI design software.

Boliden Somincor has partnered with EDP and Greenvolt to build Portugal’s largest self‑consumption solar generation unit (UPAC) near the Neves‑Corvo zinc mine at Castro Verde, supplying power directly to mine operations. The distributed solar plant will sit adjacent to one of Europe’s largest zinc orebodies, reducing grid dependence for high‑load processes such as hoisting, ventilation and paste backfill plants. For mine planners and electrical engineers, the project signals growing integration of large‑scale on‑site renewables into base‑metal underground operations in southern Europe.

RCT – Powered by Epiroc’s AutoNav Tele automation has been fitted to an Aramine L350D loader to support narrow vein stoping at Vertex Minerals’ Reward Gold mine at Hill End, after the unit was commissioned through Epiroc’s Orange Service Centre in New South Wales. The compact L350D, designed for ultra-narrow headings, is now operated via tele-remote AutoNav control rather than line-of-sight, allowing tramming and loading in constrained drives. For geotechnical and mine planners, this enables extraction in thinner ore lenses while keeping operators out of unsupported ground.

Bosch Rexroth is partnering with MEDATech Engineering to deliver end‑to‑end electrification packages for off‑highway and mining mobile equipment, combining Rexroth’s mobile hydraulics, inverters and controls with MEDATech’s EV drivetrain integration capability. The collaboration targets full systems from componentry and software through to application‑specific design and build, aimed at OEMs and retrofit projects for haul trucks, loaders and other heavy units. For mine operators, this points to more standardised electric powertrain architectures and a clearer route to integrating high‑voltage drivetrains with existing hydraulic and control systems.

Cambrian Coast Line services between Pwllheli and Dovey Junction resumed on 23 February after a nine-day blockade allowed Network Rail to complete intensive track renewal and infrastructure upgrades. The possession enabled continuous access to coastal sections that are typically constrained by tidal conditions and single-track operation, allowing replacement of life-expired rail and sleepers plus associated drainage and formation works. For civil and permanent-way engineers, the concentrated blockade approach reduces repeated mobilisation on this remote alignment and should improve track geometry, resilience to coastal weathering and long-term maintenance intervals.

Data centres are proliferating along key UK rail corridors to provide low-latency cloud capacity for AI tools used in operations, maintenance and passenger management. Network Rail and major TOCs are trialling AI-driven timetable optimisation and condition-based maintenance, feeding real-time data from track circuits, axle counters and onboard sensors into predictive models hosted in regional server farms. For engineers, the shift means designing rail-adjacent power and fibre infrastructure for high-density data hubs and integrating asset data standards so AI systems can interrogate signalling, track and rolling stock records consistently.

Evolution Mining is redirecting record cash flows into a multi-project copper–gold expansion pipeline, signalling a shift from short-term debt reduction to growth investment. The plan centres on brownfield upgrades at key assets such as Cowal and Ernest Henry, with staged increases in mill throughput and higher copper head grades to lift metal output and extend mine life. For geotechnical and processing teams, the strategy points to sustained demand for pit cutbacks, underground development, and debottlenecking of existing comminution and flotation circuits.