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Western efforts to reshore critical minerals risk stalling because the bottleneck is processing, not ore supply, with China still refining roughly 50% of global copper and about 90% of rare earths, mining lawyer Rebecca Seidl-Inglesby of Baker Botts warns. She notes a typical copper mine can take 17–30 years from discovery to US production, while new refineries face 18–24‑month product qualification lags, so governments are increasingly stepping in as commercial counterparties via price floors, 10‑year offtakes and equity, as seen in the Pentagon’s multi‑billion‑dollar MP Materials deal. Projects now win funding less on geology than on integrated routes from deposit to refinery and creditworthy offtaker, with capital structures clean enough to pass foreign‑investment scrutiny.

White Gold’s maiden PEA assigns its namesake Yukon project a post-tax NPV of C$1.9 billion at a 5% discount rate, a 38% after-tax IRR and a 1.7-year payback on C$1 billion initial capex, assuming a gold price of US$3,600/oz. The open-pit plan, 95 km south of Dawson City, envisages 188,000 oz/year over nine years at all-in sustaining costs of US$1,480/oz, drawing on the Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryan’s Surprise and VG deposits, which together cover about 60% of current resources. Access remains a key risk, with the mine reliant on connection to the planned 214 km Northern Access Route being built towards Fuerte Metals’ Coffee project.

Largo’s shares jumped almost 15% after Brazil’s National Mining Agency approved production and sale of copper, PGMs, nickel and cobalt as by-products from the Maracás Menchen vanadium mine in Bahia, enabling a copper-PGM concentrate stream alongside vanadium and ilmenite. The company will use its existing vanadium plant and ilmenite flotation infrastructure rather than build a standalone circuit, moving from industrial-scale test work to ramp-up and commercialisation. Management expects copper-PGM concentrate margins to exceed those of ilmenite, but has not yet disclosed production or sales guidance.

Gold held near $4,411/oz on Comex and silver hit a seven-week high above $65/oz as traders priced out a September US rate hike after July payrolls unexpectedly fell by 23,000 jobs and prior months were revised lower. Barrick shares dropped up to 9.7% after agreeing a $1.95 billion settlement that gives Newmont 38.5% of the Fourmile discovery, implying about $325/oz in resource value versus Citi’s $10–20 billion consensus range, while Barrick flagged up to 750,000 oz/y potential at Fourmile. Speculators lifted net-long Comex gold positions to nearly 198,000 contracts and China’s central bank added 640,000 oz to reserves, extending a 21‑month buying streak.

US investor group including Glencore, Kyma Capital and Brevan Howard co-founder Trifon Natsis has offered to recapitalise Sherritt International with immediate equity at C$0.12 per share and acquire at least 55% via a US-based structure, sending the stock up 24% to C$0.15. The proposal, cleared for talks by the US State and Treasury Departments, competes with a Gillon Capital warrant deal and promises to stabilise Sherritt’s capital structure and preserve its Fort Saskatchewan nickel–cobalt refinery, one of only three nickel refineries in North America. Bondholders holding most of Sherritt’s 9.25% 2031 notes are demanding the board engage with all “credible alternatives” before finalising terms.

Gold has broken above $4,300/oz for the first time since June, trading around $4,340 and holding above its 60-day moving average after a near 7% weekly jump from roughly $4,000. The move follows an unexpected loss of 23,000 US jobs in July, which has strengthened rate-cut bets, while hedge funds and money managers have lifted net long positions to their highest in over six months, per CFTC data. Additional support comes from the People’s Bank of China, which increased gold reserves in July by the largest amount since October 2023, with spot now around $4,363/oz and silver at $65.15/oz.

Volta Metals has intersected broad gallium mineralisation up to 210 m beneath the current Springer open-pit shell in Ontario, with hole SL26-31 returning 399 m from 3 m downhole grading 51.8 g/t gallium oxide and SL26-33 cutting 399 m at 39.1 g/t gallium oxide and 0.248% TREO. A third hole, SL26-32, delivered 53.9 m from 372.1 m to 426 m at 1.22% TREO and 47 g/t gallium oxide, and 90% of 863 samples exceeded 30 g/t gallium oxide. Metallurgical work now focuses on gallium recovery, including bioleaching trials at Laurentian University and processing studies with Idaho National Laboratory, to justify adding gallium to Springer’s 56.6 Mt indicated and 119.5 Mt inferred rare earth resource in a planned update later this year.

Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott is investing C$10 million in MAX Power Mining via a private placement of 4 million units at C$2.50, lifting his stake from 17.6% to 19.5% and positioning him to become a control person subject to shareholder approval on 20 August 2026. Each unit carries a common share plus a 24‑month warrant exercisable at C$3.25, with closing targeted around 17 August. MAX plans to use the funds to advance its multi‑well commercial validation drilling for natural hydrogen at the Lawson project, 80 km north of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Sunrise Energy Metals plans to redomicile and list on a US securities exchange after the US Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital issued a conditional commitment of up to $400 million to develop its 100%-owned Syerston scandium project in New South Wales. The project is designed for 60 tonnes per year of scandium production against an estimated 2025 global output of about 80 tonnes, positioning it as a major non-Chinese source within a Five Eyes jurisdiction. Chairman Robert Friedland said US authorities prefer critical mineral suppliers to be US‑domiciled.

Resolution Copper has let about $110 million in contracts to Major Drilling America and Redpath USA to accelerate exploration drilling and underground development at its proposed deep copper mine in Arizona. The work forms a major early tranche of an approximately $500 million post-FEIS investment programme, signalling a shift from study to execution-phase activities. For geotechnical and mining teams, this points to imminent ramp-up in underground access, drilling density, and ground characterisation data ahead of any full-scale shaft sinking or block-cave development decisions.

Normet has launched the HX-Bolt hybrid rock reinforcement system for underground mines, combining mechanical, frictional and bonded anchorage in a single bolt to handle variable and evolving ground conditions. The design targets rapid dynamic support immediately after installation while also providing long-term load capacity, aiming to bridge the gap between traditional mechanical anchors and fully grouted bolts in seismically active headings and development drives. For geotechnical engineers, the key change is a single bolt type that can be tuned to different ground behaviours without wholesale redesign of support patterns.

H-Power plc has completed phase one of its Joint Development Agreement with Komatsu to assess an ammonia-fuelled engine platform and is moving into phase two to design and integrate its proprietary ammonia cracking technology into Komatsu machinery. The programme focuses on on-board conversion of ammonia to hydrogen-rich fuel gas, aiming to cut diesel use and CO₂ emissions in large mining equipment without major changes to existing engine architecture. For mine operators, this signals potential future options for low-carbon haul trucks and excavators where grid power or full battery electrification is impractical.

Construction of the new Fremantle Traffic Bridge over the Swan River in Western Australia is running ahead of programme, with full opening to road traffic expected later this year. The old timber traffic bridge, closed in February, has now been completely removed from the river, including four rows of timber piles, clearing the alignment for final works. Early completion will reduce temporary traffic management on this key north–south corridor and allows contractors to focus on finishing permanent approaches and river navigation clearances.

Planning for a future upgrade of the Riverina Highway in Albury has reached a key milestone, covering the east–west corridor that carries around 25,000 vehicles per day between the Hume Highway, Albury Wodonga Hospital precinct and Albury Airport. The NSW Government’s planning work focuses on the Albury corridor, where the highway passes through growing residential areas and key freight and commuter routes. Geometric improvements, intersection upgrades and better access management are expected to be central, with implications for pavement design, drainage and staging in a constrained urban corridor.

Precast specialist Ozcast is adjusting manufacturing and delivery for Western Sydney International Airport works as shifting timelines and staging alter when and where large concrete components are needed on site. As a National Precast member, the company is coordinating just‑in‑time production and installation of elements such as precast panels and structural units to match evolving airside and landside construction sequences. The case illustrates how precast suppliers must build contingency into yard storage, lifting logistics and transport scheduling to avoid crane downtime and site congestion on major infrastructure programmes.

TMAA chief executive Matthew Bereni calls for evidence-based traffic management on Australian roadworks, arguing that current controls leave traffic controllers standing metres from live traffic with limited physical protection. He points to inconsistent use of temporary speed limits, variable lane closure layouts and gaps in data on near-misses and incursions into work zones as barriers to better design. Bereni urges systematic collection of incident data and performance metrics to justify stronger controls, such as wider lateral clearances, additional barriers and remote or automated signalling.

PT Hengjaya Mineralindo has deployed Datamine’s CCLAS laboratory information management system at its Hengjaya open-pit laterite nickel mine in Morowali, Central Sulawesi, to tighten control of saprolite and limonite assay data. The system centralises sample tracking, results validation and reporting across the nickel laboratory workflow, reducing manual data entry and the risk of transcription errors. More reliable, time-stamped laboratory data supports tighter grade control, reconciliation and ore blending decisions for the Nickel Industries Limited subsidiary.

The NSW Government will invest $4 million in the Critical Minerals Processing and Advanced Materials Innovation Program, offering competitive grants of up to $100,000 to universities and other research organisations. Funding targets new processing technologies for key NSW resources such as rare earths, cobalt, copper and high‑purity alumina, with a focus on pilot‑scale separation, refining and advanced materials production. For miners and processors, this signals state backing for downstream value‑adding, potentially de‑risking flowsheet development and accelerating local demonstration plants.

Medallion Metals has begun a helicopter-borne electromagnetic survey over its Ravensthorpe gold project in Western Australia, covering roughly 120km² and collecting up to 1245 line-kilometres of data across the Mt Cattlin–Kundip–Trilogy corridor. The programme targets gold–copper sulphide mineralisation along a regionally continuous structural trend, aiming to detect conductive bodies beneath transported cover and weathered profiles. Results will guide follow-up drilling, refine 3D geophysical models and potentially extend existing resource envelopes in a historically underexplored segment of the belt.

Kaiser Reef has restarted underground development at the Maldon gold project in Victoria, taking the first development cut on the Northern Drill Drive beneath the historic Union Hill gold mine after an eight-year hiatus. The new drill drive will provide an underground drilling platform for exploration and resource definition targeting high-grade quartz reef structures rather than relying solely on surface drilling. For geotechnical and mine planning teams, the drive’s position beneath existing workings enables shorter drill holes, tighter structural control, and earlier conversion of inferred mineralisation to higher-confidence categories.

Alice Queen has remobilised a diamond drill rig to the Horn Island gold project in the Torres Strait, its first drilling there in several years, to test a recently defined exploration target. The rig will support a multi‑phase programme aimed at expanding known mineralisation around existing Horn Island pit shells and conceptual targets, rather than greenfield step‑outs. For geotechs and mine planners, new core data from this historically under‑drilled island deposit will refine structural models, grade continuity assumptions and potential open‑pit or underground design envelopes.

Marshalls reported a 0.5% fall in first-half revenues to £317.8m but increased profit before tax by 13.2% to £24.9m, up from £22m in the first half of 2025. The building products manufacturer appears to be holding margins in a weak construction market, implying tighter cost control and more selective pricing across its paving, drainage and hard landscaping ranges. Contractors and specifiers can expect continued supply from a financially stable UK producer, but with limited scope for aggressive discounting on standard civils and streetscape products.

UK construction workloads showed a modest stabilisation in Q2 2026, with the RICS headline net balance improving to –4% from –12%, driven by infrastructure rather than building sectors. Energy infrastructure reported the strongest gains with a +39% net balance, followed by water and sewerage at +23%, while private housing fell to –12% and private industrial to –9%, signalling continued weakness in development-led work. Financial constraints (67% of respondents) and planning/regulation (61%) remain the main brakes, and although 12‑month infrastructure expectations rose to +34%, profit margin expectations are still negative at –10%.

Builders merchants MKM Airdrie will begin stocking Sisalwool natural fibre insulation batts, loft rolls and breathable low‑carbon products, following a link-up arranged by the Federation of Master Builders Scotland. The range, already used on the Greyfriars Charteris Centre in Edinburgh, is aimed at heritage, retrofit and conservation projects where vapour-open, hygroscopic insulation is often required to manage moisture in solid-wall and traditional constructions. A launch “Builders’ Breakfast” with live installation demonstrations is scheduled for 27 August at the Airdrie branch.