Geomechanics.io

Philippi-Hagenbuch is switching all custom HiVol® haul truck bodies to floors built from SSAB Hardox® 500 Tuf, an abrasion-resistant steel with a nominal hardness of 500 HBW. The upgrade targets high-impact loading zones in off-highway trucks handling coarse, sharp ore, where floor gouging and wear typically drive frequent liner replacement. For mine operators, harder monolithic floors can extend body life, reduce downtime for relining, and allow more aggressive loading with large buckets or rock boxes without rapidly thinning the floor plate.

Mariana Minerals is integrating Pronto’s autonomous haulage system into its MarianaOS platform to automate heavy mining truck operations at the Copper One open-pit mine and refinery complex in southeastern Utah. The partnership targets full-stack control of haul trucks via software-first integration rather than retrofitting isolated vehicle subsystems, enabling coordinated fleet management across pit, waste dump and plant haul routes. For mine planners and operations engineers, this signals tighter coupling between dispatch, autonomy and processing, with potential changes to haul road design, traffic rules and maintenance strategies.

Volvo Construction Equipment has started serial production of its A30 Electric and A40 Electric articulated haulers, claimed as the first battery-electric trucks of this payload class to reach volume manufacture. The models are based on the conventional A30 and A40 platforms but replace diesel drivetrains with high-capacity battery-electric systems, targeting typical 30 t and 40 t class haul profiles in quarries and mines. For mine planners and contractors, the move signals accelerating OEM support for low-emission haulage fleets and future requirements for high-capacity charging infrastructure on pit haul roads.

Generic mobilisation timelines in UK facilities management tenders are losing bidders evaluation points in a £65bn-a-year sector, where over £13bn of work is tied to public sector contracts with tightly defined service commencement dates. Procuring authorities now expect granular mobilisation plans detailing resourcing, TUPE transfer, asset condition surveys, CAFM system configuration and statutory compliance checks rather than boilerplate Gantt charts. For civil and infrastructure FM providers, this means evidencing site-specific risk assessments, realistic lead times for critical spares and subcontractors, and clear milestones for handover of safety-critical systems.

Strabag UK has agreed to acquire Van Elle Holdings, one of the UK’s largest specialist geotechnical contractors, in a deal valuing the business at £58.8M. The takeover brings Van Elle’s piling, ground improvement and rail geotechnics capability into the Austrian Strabag Group’s UK portfolio, strengthening its in-house delivery for major infrastructure such as HS2 and National Highways schemes. Contractors and consultants can expect a better-integrated design-and-build offer on complex foundations, retaining structures and track-bed works, but also increased competition in the UK ground engineering market.

Historic England has endorsed refurbishment plans for the Grade II* listed Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in south London, stating the scheme would “retain and enhance” the features that make the 1964 structure significant. The redevelopment will need to balance modern sports facility standards and building services upgrades with conservation of the distinctive concrete shell roof and original pool and arena forms. For engineers, the backing reduces heritage consent risk but signals tight constraints on structural alterations, façade treatments and intrusive groundworks.

Engineers will renew nearly 1km of track, replace six sets of points and install new sleepers and ballast around Ely station in Cambridgeshire later this month on what Network Rail describes as a “very busy” section of line. The works target life-expired components that currently constrain speeds and reliability on junction approaches and through the station throat. Possession planning and staging will be critical, as the Ely area handles intensive passenger and freight traffic linking Norwich, King’s Lynn and the Midlands.

Northumbria University’s £30M North East Space Skills and Technology Centre (NESST) in Newcastle has reached its structural topping-out milestone, marking completion of the primary frame for the new space research and skills hub. The facility is being delivered as a specialist space-technology centre, expected to house laboratories, clean-room style environments and test areas for satellite and space systems engineering. For civil and structural teams, the milestone signals transition from superstructure works to envelope, fit-out and integration of high-spec M&E and environmental control systems.

Former Keller Group chief executive Michael Speakman has died, with the ground engineering contractor announcing his death on 9 April following his passing last week. Speakman led Keller, one of the world’s largest specialist geotechnical contractors with operations across piling, ground improvement and grouting, through a period of major infrastructure delivery in transport, energy and urban development. His death removes a senior industry figure with deep experience in large-diameter piling, complex ground stabilisation and international project delivery.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has launched a pilot scheme to test non‑pipeline CO₂ transport options to support wider Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage deployment beyond fixed trunk lines. The programme will examine road, rail and ship-based movement of captured CO₂ from dispersed industrial sites to storage hubs, targeting clusters that are uneconomic or technically challenging to connect by high-pressure pipeline. For civil and geotechnical engineers, this signals future demand for modular loading terminals, interim storage tanks and upgraded pavements and rail sidings designed for dense liquid CO₂ logistics.

Glencore Technology is promoting its Jameson Cell flotation units and IsaMill fine grinding technology as miners confront declining ore grades and more complex mineralogy. The Jameson Cell, already installed at sites such as Mount Isa Mines, delivers intensive aeration and fine bubble generation in a compact footprint, while IsaMill units provide energy-efficient ultrafine grinding down to the 10–20µm range. Together, these circuits aim to lift recoveries from low-grade, refractory ores and defer cut-off grade increases in existing operations.

BHP incoming chief executive Brandon Craig has met Chinalco chair Ao Hong in Beijing, signalling a renewed alignment between the world’s largest diversified miner and China’s biggest state-owned aluminium producer. The talks centre on long-term supply security for iron ore and copper, with BHP’s Pilbara operations and Escondida copper mine likely to feature in any expanded offtake or joint development arrangements. For miners and project developers, the move points to continued Chinese backing for large-scale steel and energy-transition metals demand, supporting new brownfield expansions over greenfield risk.

Atlas Copco is targeting mineral processing plants with its oil-free ZS screw blowers, designed to deliver clean, ISO 8573-1 Class 0 compressed air for flotation cells, pneumatic conveying and filter presses. The units use variable speed drives and high-efficiency screw elements to cut specific energy consumption compared with conventional lobe blowers, while maintaining stable low-pressure air in the typical 0.3–1.5 bar(g) range. For plant engineers, the main gains are reduced blower-room power draw, lower heat load on ventilation systems and more consistent air supply to critical process circuits.

Australian mining equipment, technology and services (METS) suppliers are being urged by Austmine to target the US market ahead of the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington DC from 23–26 June 2024. Austmine is promoting opportunities linked to US critical minerals policy, including demand for Australian-developed ore sorting, mine automation and tailings monitoring technologies in states such as Nevada and Arizona. For METS firms, the push signals growing scope for export of drill-and-blast optimisation software, remote asset monitoring systems and specialist consulting on ESG-compliant mine design.

NASA’s Artemis II crew has completed a geology‑focused lunar flyby, using high‑resolution imaging and LiDAR to map candidate Artemis III landing zones across the South Pole–Aitken Basin and other polar regions. Astronauts conducted real‑time visual stratigraphy logging of crater walls up to several kilometres deep and coordinated spectral observations of suspected pyroclastic deposits and boulder fields larger than 5 metres. The resulting datasets on regolith thickness, block size distributions and slope angles are expected to refine bearing capacity models, excavation strategies and ground‑anchor design for future lunar surface infrastructure.

Argentina’s Congress has approved President Javier Milei’s reform of the 2010 Glacier Law by 137–111, allowing provinces rather than a national scientific body to define which of nearly 17,000 glaciers and 8,484 sq. km of periglacial zones can host mining, including high-altitude copper, lithium and gold projects. Supporters, including provincial leaders in Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca and Salta, and miners such as Glencore, BHP, Rio Tinto, Lundin Mining and McEwen Mining, see scope to triple exports by 2030 and reach $165 billion by 2035. Environmental lawyers and scientists warn that opening periglacial areas—key to water regulation in arid Andean basins—could threaten supplies relied on by about 70% of Argentinians and introduce fragmented, politically driven permitting standards.

Barrick Mining is pivoting back to acquisitions and retreating from higher‑risk regions after 2025 gold output fell 17% to 3.26 million ounces, its lowest level in at least 25 years, and after the seizure of a key Mali mine and rising costs at the Reko Diq copper project in Pakistan. Chairman John Thornton said Barrick will prioritise “tier one” long-life, low-cost assets and plans to list a new vehicle by end‑2026 holding its Nevada joint venture, the Fourmile discovery and the Pueblo Viejo mine.

G Mining Ventures will acquire G2 Goldfields in a C$3 billion ($2.2 billion) all-share deal, consolidating the adjacent Oko West and Oko-Ghanie projects in Guyana into a single district-scale complex targeting more than 500,000 oz/y of gold over the life of mine. The combined 362 sq. km land package in the Guiana Shield holds 7 million oz measured and indicated at 2.28 g/t and 2.3 million oz inferred, with key zones open at depth and along strike. G Mining forecasts over C$1 billion in capex/opex synergies via shared infrastructure and mine sequencing, with first Oko West production still slated for H2 2027 and expanded output targeted by H1 2029.

NioCorp Developments has signed a non-binding deal making Traxys the exclusive offtake and marketing partner for all Elk Creek project output for the first 10 years, except the 50% ferroniobium already committed to ThyssenKrupp. The agreement covers the remaining 25% ferroniobium on a take-or-pay basis, all remaining scandium oxide on a best-efforts basis, plus titanium dioxide and rare earth elements, with Traxys also acting as marketing intermediary for third-party sales. Traxys plans an equity investment of up to $30 million, supporting NioCorp’s bid for up to $800 million in EXIM debt towards the $1.1 billion capex.

US lithium developer HiTech Minerals will go public on Nasdaq via a $571 million merger with SPAC Constellation Acquisition Corp. I, creating US Elemental, with parent Jindalee Lithium expected to retain about 80% ownership and the new ticker “ULIT”. The key asset is the McDermitt project on the Oregon–Nevada border, holding 21.5 million tonnes LCE and scoped in a 2024 PFS for 47,500 t/y output in the first decade, 63-year mine life, $3.2 billion post-tax NPV (8%), 17.9% IRR and roughly $3 billion capex. Designated under FAST‑41 and backed by a planned $20–30 million raise, the listing aims to secure US capital and partners for McDermitt and the Clayton North project in Nevada amid a lithium price rebound of nearly 40% this year.

Tharisa Minerals has fired the inaugural underground blast at its Bushveld Complex chrome and PGM operation, initiating the transition from open pit to underground mining scheduled from 31 March 2026. Cementation Africa, the contracting partner, will be central to developing the new underground infrastructure, including access declines and associated services, to extend mine life and access deeper ore. The shift will alter geotechnical design demands, ventilation and ground support requirements, and could change the mine’s stripping ratio and cost profile over the medium term.

GR Engineering has secured an EPC contract from Northparkes Mining Services, a subsidiary of Evolution Mining, to deliver a Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) project at the Northparkes copper-gold operation, 300 km west of Sydney, New South Wales. The project will retrofit CPF into the existing concentrator, targeting recovery of coarser sulphide particles that currently bypass conventional flotation circuits. For process engineers, the key change is integration of new CPF cells and associated regrind, pumping and classification modifications into a brownfield plant while maintaining throughput.

Applications are now open for the New South Wales Government’s Level Crossing Improvement Program – Regional Council Minor Works, a sub-program of the broader LCIP receiving $7.5 million across 2026–27 to upgrade public level crossings. Funding will support regional councils to deliver small-scale works such as improved signage, road approaches and active protection at rail interfaces. Designers and contractors should expect a focus on low-cost, high-impact treatments and potential trials of new warning technologies suited to rural traffic and train speeds.

Crumb rubber asphalt produced from end-of-life tyres is moving from niche use to routine specification in Australian road surfacing, with Tyre Stewardship Australia citing growing government and industry confidence in large-scale procurement. Rubber‑modified binders, created by blending crumb rubber into bitumen, are delivering quantifiable engineering gains such as improved elasticity and cracking resistance, as shown in recent Western Australian trials. For pavement designers and asset managers, this signals wider acceptance of crumb rubber mixes in standard specifications rather than as one‑off innovation projects.