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AIC Mines reported first-half FY25 revenue of $110.6 million, driven by higher copper production and stronger pricing from its Eloise underground mine in north-west Queensland. The company is advancing its Jericho copper deposit, located about 4km from Eloise, with plans for an underground decline to access higher-grade ore and extend mine life. Management signalled further capital investment in processing upgrades and regional exploration around the 1.5Mtpa Eloise plant, aiming to lift throughput and reduce unit costs.

Exploration momentum is building across Australia as multiple juniors advance critical minerals, rare earths and gold projects through new drilling, resource updates and metallurgical testwork. Activity centres on high‑grade cobalt–scandium at Ida Holmes alongside rare earths prospects and emerging gold systems, with companies targeting shallow, open‑pittable mineralisation and scalable processing routes. For geotechnical and mine planners, the focus on near‑surface orebodies and critical‑metal grades signals upcoming demand for detailed pit slope design, geometallurgical characterisation and infrastructure planning in previously underdeveloped districts.

Record iron ore output and an 8 per cent rise in copper-equivalent production in 2025 have lifted Rio Tinto’s yearly performance, driven by the continued ramp-up of key growth projects. The miner is leveraging stronger throughput at its Pilbara iron ore operations and expanding copper volumes from assets such as Oyu Tolgoi and Kennecott to rebalance its portfolio towards energy-transition metals. For mine planners and process engineers, the figures signal sustained high utilisation of existing rail–port infrastructure and ongoing debottlenecking across concentrators and smelters.

Capricorn Metals is targeting a new gold growth corridor in Western Australia after acquiring the Extension Hill and Mungada project from Mount Gibson Iron in the Mid West region. The tenement package sits near Capricorn’s 130,000oz–150,000oz per annum Karlawinda operation and includes historical iron ore pits, existing haul roads and camp infrastructure that could shorten development timelines. For geotechs and mine planners, the brownfield setting, prior open-pit disturbance and established logistics corridor materially reduce early-stage ground investigation and access risks compared with a greenfield build.

Ramelius Resources has trucked the first ore from the high‑grade Never Never underground deposit at Dalgaranga to its 1.9Mtpa Mt Magnet carbon‑in‑leach processing hub, consolidating feed after shutting the Dalgaranga plant in 2023. The Never Never ore, discovered in 2022 immediately west of the Sly Fox open pit and reporting grades well above the historical Dalgaranga average, is being hauled by road train over regional haul roads designed for heavy axle loads. Centralising milling at Mt Magnet cuts duplicate processing costs and extends the hub‑and‑spoke model for Ramelius’ Mid West gold operations.

Vale Base Metals is forming a new ownership consortium with Exiro Minerals, Orion Resource Partners and Canada Growth Fund to invest up to US$200 million in the Thompson Mine Complex in Manitoba. The new company structure is intended to extend the life of nickel operations and protect local mining jobs at the long-running Thompson underground complex. For engineers, the funding signals continued capital for mine development, underground infrastructure and potential plant upgrades rather than a near-term closure scenario.

Civiltech Solutions is deploying a cloud-based asset management platform to help Australian councils plan and deliver local road maintenance amid tightening budgets and rising service expectations. The system integrates defect data, pavement condition, work orders and contractor scheduling into a single interface, replacing fragmented spreadsheets and paper-based workflows. For engineers, this enables network-level prioritisation of reseals and rehabilitation, clearer forward works programming, and more defensible funding bids tied to quantified road condition and lifecycle cost scenarios.

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria has confirmed the departure of CEO Lisa Kinross after six years, during which she became the organisation’s first female chief executive. Kinross guided CCF VIC’s contractor membership through COVID-19 disruptions to road and civil works and contributed to the federal National 90‑Day Review of infrastructure projects and procurement settings. Her exit leaves a leadership gap as Victoria’s civil sector navigates cost escalation, labour shortages and ongoing pipeline reviews.

British suppliers could provide 85–90% of the Lower Thames Crossing’s low carbon steel demand, based on recent market engagement by the project team. The scheme, which includes a new Thames tunnel and major approach viaducts carrying the A122 and M25, is expected to require large volumes of structural and reinforcement steel with reduced embodied carbon relative to conventional UK steel. For designers and contractors, this signals strong potential to specify UK-sourced low carbon sections and rebar, simplifying assurance on supply chains and whole-life carbon targets.

Updated planning guidance on flood risk and coastal change still leaves a regulatory gap for mandatory sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), argues Stuart Crisp, UK manager at Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS). He notes that, outside Schedule 3-type regimes, many English developments can proceed without adoptable SuDS features such as attenuation tanks, geocellular storage and permeable pavements, despite long-term surface water and groundwater flood risks. For civil and drainage designers, this keeps SuDS largely policy-led rather than enforceable, complicating investment in higher-spec systems and long-term maintenance planning.

Todmorden station’s £multi-million Access for All upgrade in West Yorkshire has been taken back in-house by Network Rail after contractor Input Group was “stood down for unsafe behaviours”, transport minister Huw Merriman told MPs. The scheme, funded through the DfT’s Access for All programme, is expected to deliver step-free access via new lifts and improved footbridge links between platforms on the Calder Valley line. Network Rail will now re-let or self-deliver remaining works, with renewed scrutiny on site safety management and rail-adjacent construction controls.

Gold Fields has reported an 18 per cent jump in gold-equivalent production and a 33 per cent increase in normalised earnings for 2025, driven largely by higher gold prices and strong output from its Australian operations at Granny Smith, St Ives and Agnew. The company advanced its St Ives renewables project, transporting and installing large-scale wind turbine components to cut grid reliance and stabilise long-term power costs. Management flagged further capital allocation to Australian brownfield expansions and decarbonisation infrastructure rather than major new greenfield mines.

Newmont has issued 2026 production guidance for its Australian gold portfolio, signalling higher output supported by elevated capital spending across key operations acquired through the Newcrest transaction. The company is prioritising investment at large-scale assets such as Cadia, Telfer and Lihir, with guidance framed around ramp-ups, debottlenecking and mine-life extension rather than greenfield additions. For geotechnical and mining teams, the focus implies sustained demand for underground development, tailings capacity upgrades and plant optimisation to support higher mill throughput and longer operating horizons.

AusIMM will host the International Mining Geology Conference 2026 on 21–22 April at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, bringing mining geologists, resource modellers and mine planners together in a two-day technical programme. Sessions are expected to focus on grade control, geometallurgy, resource estimation workflows and integration of geological models with short- and long-term mine planning. For practitioners, the event signals upcoming discussion on practical tools such as implicit modelling software, blast movement measurement and reconciliation techniques directly affecting orebody knowledge and unit costs.

VDI has marked 2,000 Yutong mining bus deliveries in Australia with a new fleet handover in the Pilbara to Sodexo, which provides transport services to Rio Tinto operations. The milestone underlines the scale of site-based people‑movement, with high-capacity, mine‑spec buses required to handle long-haul, unsealed access roads and extreme heat typical of Pilbara conditions. For operators and contractors, performance after handover – uptime, parts support and body durability under red‑dust corrosion – remains the critical test rather than initial purchase.

Direct mining expenditure in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley has reached a record $9.4 billion, marking the highest annual spend by the sector in any NSW region. The figure, reported by the NSW Minerals Council, covers direct outlays on wages, local suppliers and community infrastructure tied to coal and associated mining operations. For geotechnical and civil contractors, the scale of spend signals continued demand for pit development, haul road construction and maintenance, tailings and waste facility works, and associated rail and port support infrastructure.

Gold Fields is signalling further M&A after its $1.58 billion Osisko Mining and $2.6 billion Gold Road Resources deals, targeting consolidation in Western Australia’s Goldfields region and optionality in South America and Canada while its four WA mines already deliver about half of group output. Exploration spend jumped 204% in 2025 to $298 million, including proprietary greenfield drill rigs in Australia and a 10.5% stake in Founders Metals’ Antino project in Suriname. 2025 production reached 2.438Moz at AISC of $1,645/oz, funding $2.97 billion in free cash flow and a 35% payout ratio plus $353 million in specials and buybacks.

Rio Tinto is pivoting hard to copper, doubling copper profit to nearly $7.4 billion on an 11% production increase from the Oyu Tolgoi underground ramp-up and directing 85% of its exploration budget to the metal after walking away from a Glencore mega-merger. Group EBITDA rose 9% to $25.4 billion and underlying earnings hit $10.87 billion, while net profit slipped 14% to $10 billion on higher depreciation, tax and financing costs. Iron ore remains dominant with 323–338 Mt Pilbara shipments forecast for 2026 and initial Simandou exports targeting 5–10 Mt.

Vale is transferring 81.1% control of the Thompson nickel complex in northern Manitoba to Exiro Nickel, a new vehicle backed by Exiro Minerals, Orion Resource Partners and the C$15 billion Canada Growth Fund, which will inject up to $200 million, while Vale retains 18.9% and an offtake agreement for nickel concentrate. The complex comprises two underground mines, an adjacent mill and exploration ground along the 135 km Thompson nickel belt, producing 12,000 tonnes of finished nickel in 2025, up 21% year-on-year. Closing is targeted by end-2026, with Vale operating the site until completion and the new owners prioritising mine development, exploration and infrastructure upgrades.

Taseko Mines has started cathode production from the newly commissioned solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) plant at its Florence Copper in-situ operation in Arizona, targeting 30–35 million lb of copper cathode in 2026 and 85 million lb of LME Grade A copper at full run-rate. Gibraltar in British Columbia produced 98.1 million lb of copper and 1.9 million lb of molybdenum in 2025, with 2026 copper output guided at 110–115 million lb as mining advances in the Connector pit. Despite C$673 million in 2025 revenue and C$230 million adjusted EBITDA, Taseko’s net loss widened to C$30 million and its shares fell nearly 6%, valuing the company at C$3.75 billion.

AngloGold Ashanti is investing C$38.7 million (US$28.2 million) for a 5% stake in Thesis Gold, buying 13.86 million shares at C$2.79 and securing rights to maintain its holding in future financings, while Centerra Gold will add 2.06 million shares for C$5.75 million. Thesis’ Lawyers-Ranch gold-silver project in BC’s Toodoggone district, a 495 km² consolidated land package around a past producer of 173,000 oz gold and 3.6 million oz silver, is now at pre-feasibility. The latest technical report gives an after-tax NPV of C$2.37 billion, 54% IRR, and a 15-year mine life with 187,000 oz gold-equivalent per year.

Lithium Americas plans 2026 capex of US$1.3–1.6 billion on Phase 1 of the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, with US$1.2–1.5 billion directed to construction and peak on-site employment of about 1,800 skilled workers by year-end. Detailed engineering is 93% complete and procurement 60%, backed by a US$2.23 billion US Department of Energy loan and equity stakes including 38% ownership by General Motors. Phase 1 is scheduled to start producing 40,000 t/y of battery-grade lithium carbonate from late 2027, with full ramp-up through 2028.

Reynaers Aluminium’s low‑carbon ConceptWall 50 (CW 50) curtain walling has been selected to replace the brutalist cement façade of the 11‑storey St Magnus House on London’s Lower Thames Street, which will be renamed Fresh Wharf. The CW 50 system, with 50mm sightlines and capacity to support glass panes up to 700kg, is being installed by Century Facades and Aluminium & Glass Facades under Mace Construct for client Pegasi Management. The retrofit targets demanding energy and carbon performance, with the lightweight, highly glazed envelope intended to maximise daylight, river views and long‑term operational efficiency.

Finning Power Rental has added its first Cat XES120 battery energy storage system to its hire fleet, offering 72 kW output and 127.9 kWh storage that can run stand-alone or in hybrid mode with Cat EU Stage V diesel generator sets to cut fuel use, noise and servicing. Four new Cat Stage V gensets from 20–550 kVA (XQP20, XQP200, XQP310, XQP550 using C2.2, C7.1, C9.3 and C18 engines) broaden options for temporary and construction power. Remote monitoring plus new training in battery safety and hybrid operation aim to support more complex site power configurations.