Geomechanics.io

A £500M four-line tram network has been proposed for Derby, aiming to divert tens of thousands of daily car trips onto fixed-track public transport and cut congestion on key radial routes. The campaign group’s concept focuses on linking suburban corridors directly to the city centre, using segregated alignments where possible to improve journey time reliability over existing bus services. For civil and geotechnical teams, the scheme would trigger major street-running trackworks, utility diversions and new stop structures in a constrained urban environment.

A £115M tender has been launched by Ebbsfleet Development Corporation for contractors to deliver Phase 1a infrastructure works at Ebbsfleet Central, a key early package in the planned garden city-scale development between Dartford and Gravesend. The contract is expected to cover primary roads, utilities corridors and drainage to open up multiple development plots, with significant earthworks and ground engineering anticipated on former quarry and industrial land. Bidders will need capacity for complex service diversions and staged construction to maintain access around HS1 and existing local highways.

Belfast City Council has appointed an expert design team to develop early-stage proposals for a moveable active‑travel bridge across the River Lagan, funded by the Department for Infrastructure. The scheme will focus on a dedicated walking and cycling crossing with a movable span to maintain river navigation, requiring detailed assessment of hydraulic clearances, foundation options in alluvial river deposits, and mechanical systems for frequent opening. Early design work will also need to integrate tie‑ins to existing quayside paths and address scour, ship impact loading and operational reliability.

A new section of Serbia’s Morava Corridor Motorway has opened, taking the operational length to 71km on the planned 112km east–west route across central Serbia. The Bechtel–ENKA joint venture is delivering the corridor as a high-capacity, dual-carriageway motorway intended to connect key logistics centres and industrial zones between Pojate and Preljina. For designers and contractors, the phased opening signals ongoing earthworks, structures and pavement operations on the remaining 41km, with traffic loading now commencing on more than half the alignment.

The UK government will set a 30-year horizon for its new long-term rail strategy, rail minister Chris Evans has confirmed, but it will not be underpinned by legislation. The framework is intended to guide major investment decisions on main line upgrades, electrification and rolling stock renewal across England and Wales, yet will remain vulnerable to shifts in ministerial priorities and spending reviews. For planners and designers, this signals a need to build optionality and phasing into major rail schemes to withstand potential policy reversals.

A three-year University of Stirling study links dense Himalayan balsam stands on UK riverbanks to higher winter bank erosion rates, as the shallow-rooted annual dies back and leaves bare, unreinforced soil exposed to peak flows. Researchers tracked vegetation and bank condition along invaded and non-invaded reaches, finding greater lateral retreat and fine sediment mobilisation where balsam dominated. The work signals a need to factor invasive species management into fluvial design, scour protection detailing and river corridor maintenance to protect water quality and habitat structure.

3M is promoting its PELTOR Protective Communication Solutions for hazardous mining environments, combining certified hearing protection with integrated two-way communication headsets. The systems are designed to maintain clear, reliable voice transmission in high-noise areas such as underground headings and processing plants, using noise-cancelling microphones and level-dependent attenuation. For mine operators, the key draw is enabling real-time coordination and emergency instructions without workers removing hearing protection, directly targeting common compliance and communication gaps in drilling, blasting and mobile plant operations.

A rainfall-induced landslide at the Barangay Binaliw open dumpsite in Cebu City on 8 January 2026 killed one landfill worker, injured several others and collapsed the on-site Material Recovery Facility, with at least seven people pulled from waste debris and further victims feared trapped. Prolonged intense rainfall caused water infiltration into waste and underlying soils, softening layers, raising pore water pressures and triggering global instability in steep, poorly drained waste slopes. The failure is prompting suspension of operations, drone-based damage mapping and renewed focus on engineered slope geometry, controlled waste placement and surface/subsurface drainage design for tropical landfills.

Fortitude Gold has begun mining at its County Line project in Nevada, trucking initial mineralisation from the base of the historic County Line Pit to the existing Isabella Pearl heap leach and ADR plant, with a major pit layback scheduled for H2 2026–H2 2027 and an updated resource to incorporate East Pit drilling. Exploration targets at Newman Ridge, the Rex mine and areas north and south of the current pits are being evaluated to extend mine life. All permits are now in place for the Scarlet South open pit, 500 m northwest of Isabella Pearl, with ore from Isabella Pearl deep, County Line and Scarlet South planned to feed the central processing facility from 2026.

Iltani Resources’ Orient project in North Queensland, billed as one of Australia’s largest silver–indium developments, has reported standout 2025 drilling results that support a potential resource expansion. The polymetallic system targets silver, indium, zinc and lead, with recent intercepts extending known mineralisation along strike and at depth beyond the current drilling grid. Iltani is now planning follow-up step-out drilling and updated resource modelling, which could materially influence mine design, metallurgical testwork priorities and long-term development options for the Orient tenements.

Australian explorers are advancing silica sand, gold and rare earths projects, with silica gaining attention as a feedstock for solar glass and high‑purity industrial applications. Activity is concentrating in Western Australia and Queensland, where juniors are drilling shallow, laterally extensive sand deposits and following up high‑grade gold intercepts near existing processing hubs. For geotechs and mine planners, the focus on near‑surface, free‑digging sand bodies and brownfield gold step‑outs points to relatively low strip ratios, simpler pit designs and faster development timelines than deeper hard‑rock projects.

Recent diamond drilling at Larvotto Resources’ Clarks Gully prospect within the Hillgrove gold–antimony project in New South Wales has returned a “standout intercept”, strengthening the case for higher-grade underground mineralisation. The work forms part of a targeted diamond programme testing extensions of known lodes beneath historical workings at Hillgrove, a past producer with multiple steeply dipping, narrow-vein structures. For geotechnical and mine planning teams, the results point to continued focus on underground access, ground support in vein-hosted systems, and potential sequencing of gold–antimony stopes.

Swiss Federal Railways has awarded an Implenia/Marti 50:50 joint venture five of six MehrSpur Zurich–Winterthur lots worth just under CHF 1.7 billion, including the 8.3 km Brüttener tunnel (Lot 240) with twin 10 m diameter single-track tubes and a 1 km spur to Zurich Airport. TBM excavation will start in August 2029, with a roughly ten-year construction phase using BIM for planning and execution and extensive special foundations, earthworks and embankments. Additional works cover full redevelopment of Dietlikon station, about 6 km of new track across Dietlikon and Wallisellen sections, multiple underpasses, bridges and the Neumühle railway bridge and Storchen underpass near Winterthur.

Fenner Conveyors and ABB mark 20 years of collaboration on conveyor drive systems for Australian mines, integrating ABB’s variable-speed drives and high-efficiency motors with Fenner’s engineered conveyor solutions. The partnership has focused on long overland and high-capacity pit-to-plant conveyors, using optimised drive control to manage starting torque, belt tensions and energy consumption on steep gradients and extended haul distances. For operators, the combined offering centres on reduced unplanned downtime, better condition monitoring of critical drive components and easier brownfield upgrades of existing conveyor lines.

Grid power from SaskPower is now available at Denison Mines’ planned Phoenix in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium project in the Athabasca Basin after installation of a new 138 kV transmission line to site. The connection removes reliance on diesel generation for construction power, supporting the project’s low-carbon ISR design and simplifying permitting linked to emissions and noise. For mine planners, firm grid access at this stage reduces execution risk around wellfield drilling, freeze wall installation and long-term pumping and processing loads.

SANY Mining has delivered the first 136‑t class SET150S hybrid‑drive water truck to Vale, initiating a planned series deployment on the miner’s iron ore operations. The truck combines a conventional diesel powertrain with an electric drive system to cut fuel consumption and emissions during high‑load haul and spray cycles. For mine operators, the 136‑t payload in a hybrid configuration signals growing OEM focus on decarbonising auxiliary fleets such as dust‑suppression units, not just primary haul trucks.

Rio Tinto has started production at its Western Range iron ore project in the Pilbara, a replacement operation for depleting Brockman mines feeding the 45Mtpa Paraburdoo processing hub. The mine features a new primary crusher and overland conveyor system tied into existing Paraburdoo plant infrastructure, with autonomous haul trucks and drills integrated via the company’s Mine Automation System. For geotechs and civils, the brownfield tie-in to ageing haul roads, waste dumps and dewatering bores will drive ongoing slope stability, groundwater management and haul road upgrade work.

Motion is consolidating several long-standing Australian industrial brands into a single national network supplying fluid power, bearings, power transmission and industrial hose assemblies to mining operations. The company is positioning its in-house engineering teams and service centres to support on-site maintenance, hydraulic system design and condition monitoring across remote mine sites. For operators, the move signals easier access to OEM‑grade components and integrated support for critical systems such as pumps, conveyors and mobile plant hydraulics.

Glencore and Rio Tinto have re‑entered talks over a potential mega‑merger that would combine Glencore’s large thermal and metallurgical coal, copper and trading portfolio with Rio’s iron ore, aluminium and Tier‑1 copper assets such as Oyu Tolgoi. A deal would create a diversified group with dominant positions in Pilbara iron ore, Andean and African copper belts, and Queensland and NSW coal basins, concentrating tailings, water and ESG risk across fewer operators. For engineers and contractors, any merger could trigger asset sales, mine life extensions, and shifts in capital allocation for brownfield debottlenecking and new pit, rail and port infrastructure.

BHP is renewing a leadership development programme for First Nations employees in Australia, extending a previously “successful” initiative aimed at building senior Indigenous representation across its iron ore, coal and copper operations. The programme focuses on mid‑career professionals, combining formal leadership training with on‑the‑job projects in areas such as mine planning, community engagement and operational supervision. For site-based engineers and managers, this signals continued emphasis on Indigenous participation in technical and supervisory roles, which may influence project teams, contracting strategies and stakeholder engagement on Country.

Tickets are now available for the Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME) 2026, billed as Queensland’s largest regional mining event and offering free entry to attendees. The show will again bring together mine operators, OEMs and METS suppliers in Mackay, with a strong focus on surface and underground equipment, digital fleet management and maintenance technologies. For geotechnical and mining engineers, QME remains a key venue to compare haul truck, drill and conveyor systems side by side and to engage directly with technology vendors on site-specific challenges.

Energy Fuels’ updated feasibility study for the 100%-owned Vara Mada heavy mineral sands project in southwest Madagascar assigns an after-tax NPV (10% discount) of US$1.8 billion and a 24.9% IRR, based on a 38-year mine life producing about 959,000 tonnes of ilmenite, 66,000 tonnes of zircon, 24,000 tonnes of monazite and 8,000 tonnes of rutile. Monazite concentrate will be shipped to the White Mesa mill in Utah, which currently processes up to 10,000 tonnes per year into 1,000 tonnes of NdPr oxide, with planned expansion to produce 48 tonnes of dysprosium and 14 tonnes of terbium oxides annually. Pre-FID capital is estimated at US$121 million with over US$900 million post-FID in two stages, contingent on finalising fiscal terms and adding monazite to the existing mining permit with the Madagascar government.

Guyana’s oil and mining sectors are attracting renewed capital as US military operations in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro ease security concerns around the 160,000 km² Essequibo region and offshore fields discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015. Large-scale gold and bauxite players including Zijin Mining’s Aurora mine, Aris Mining, G Mining Ventures, BOSAI and First Bauxite Corporation are advancing projects in what Control Risks rates as a low‑ to medium‑risk jurisdiction. IMF and World Bank data show real GDP growth projected above 22% for 2026, with the Natural Resource Fund at $3.6 billion (12.5% of GDP) and reserves above $1 billion supporting long‑term project finance.

Rapid growth in AI data centres, defence spending and robotics is projected by S&P Global to lift annual copper demand 50% to about 42 million tonnes by 2040, leaving a potential supply gap of more than 10 million tonnes even if recycling more than doubles to 10 million tonnes. The study attributes roughly 4 million tonnes of extra annual demand to AI and defence alone, with a further 1.6 million tonnes possible if 1 billion humanoid robots are deployed, equivalent to about 6% of today’s consumption. Global mine output is forecast to peak near 33 million tonnes in 2030 as ore grades fall and new projects stall on permitting, financing and construction risk.