Geomechanics.io

Mineral Mining Services has mobilised its specialised reverse circulation drill fleet and crews to start a new RC drilling programme at the Leonora South gold project near Kookynie, Western Australia. The campaign follows a formalised “Drill-for-Equity” agreement with GoldArc Resources, under which MMS will receive part of its compensation in GoldArc equity rather than cash. The structure reduces upfront drilling costs for GoldArc while locking MMS into project upside, a model that could influence funding strategies for early-stage gold exploration in the Leonora–Kookynie belt.

Early works have started on National Highways’ Lower Thames Crossing, with archaeologists, ecologists and engineers mobilised across Essex and Kent ahead of main tunnelling works scheduled for 2028. Site investigations, environmental surveys and enabling works are being used to refine the alignment and construction methodology for the twin‑bore road tunnel beneath the Thames, planned as a key additional link to the Dartford Crossing. Geotechnical data from these early phases will drive detailed design of tunnel approaches, cuttings, and associated highway structures.

Five new railway stations in the West Midlands, including the three long-delayed Camp Hill line stops, will open to passengers over the next month, completing a regional rail upgrade aimed at restoring local stopping services. The scheme reconnects communities that have been without rail links for several decades, reducing reliance on radial routes into Birmingham New Street. For civil and rail engineers, the openings mark the handover of multiple infill stations delivered on an operational network, with associated track, signalling and platform interface works now moving into the operational testing phase.

Work is ramping up on National Highways’ A47 Thickthorn Junction upgrade near Norwich as roads minister Guy Opperman visits site and talks up the forthcoming Roads Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3). The scheme is replacing the existing roundabout with a free‑flowing grade‑separated junction to cut congestion on the A47/A11 interchange, a key strategic link to Great Yarmouth and the Midlands. Opperman signalled that RIS3 will prioritise similar major junction upgrades and corridor improvements on the Strategic Road Network, with detailed funding envelopes expected in the next spending period.

Forrestania Resources has entered a binding agreement to acquire several Western Australian gold exploration districts from Goldtribe Resources, expanding its tenure in the Forrestania and Southern Cross greenstone belts. The package reportedly includes early-stage tenements with historical gold workings and soil anomalies adjacent to existing shear-hosted deposits, giving Forrestania additional strike length along established mineralised trends. For geologists and mine planners, the deal consolidates ground in a mature Archean belt where brownfields-style targeting, rather than greenfields discovery, is likely to drive near-term drilling strategies.

Export Finance Australia has approved up to $385 million in loans and guarantees to support Australian suppliers delivering equipment and services to Rio Tinto’s Rincón lithium brine project in Salta, Argentina. The facility is expected to back contracts for process plant packages, modular infrastructure and specialist engineering for the planned direct lithium extraction and evaporation pond system. For contractors, the EFA backing reduces payment risk on offshore work and could favour Australian-designed process, materials handling and power systems in Rincón’s next development phases.

Metso has partnered with Loesche GmbH to launch a vertical roller mill (VRM) dry grinding solution targeting higher energy efficiency and reduced water use in comminution circuits. The system combines Metso’s process integration and plant design with Loesche’s VRM technology, which typically delivers fine grinding in a single, compact unit without the need for large downstream classification or thickening equipment. For mine designers, the dry VRM route can shrink plant footprint, simplify tailings handling and support projects in arid regions or where water licences are constrained.

Jenike & Johanson has launched a Solids Flow Essentials microlearning series targeted at process and plant engineers dealing with bulk solids handling in hoppers, bins and transfer chutes. The short, modular courses focus on practical issues such as arching, ratholing, segregation and wall friction, using Jenike shear testing concepts and flow property measurements to guide bin and silo design. For operations teams, the material offers a structured way to diagnose chronic flow problems and reduce unplanned downtime without full-length training programmes.

Dreadnought Resources has started reverse circulation drilling at the Metzke’s Find prospect within its 100 per cent owned Illaara gold project in Western Australia, targeting structurally controlled high-grade gold along a previously defined shear corridor. The RC programme is designed to step out from earlier intercepts and test down-dip and along-strike extensions of mineralisation, using relatively low-cost, high-production hammer drilling suited to the hard Archaean greenstone host rocks. Results will guide follow-up diamond drilling, resource definition and potential pit shell optimisation across the broader Illaara trend.

US–Israel military action against Iran has driven oil briefly towards $120 per barrel before settling in the $90s, as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen from about 80 ships per day to only a handful, erasing expectations of near‑term oversupply. BMO analysts report nitrogen fertiliser prices up roughly 30%, with Middle Eastern producers supplying nearly half of global urea exports and about 15% of global polyethylene capacity, pushing utilisation towards 90%+. Metals impacts are uneven: up to 5 Mt of Middle Eastern aluminium output may be disrupted, while sulfur‑intensive nickel and phosphate chains face rising cost and supply risk.

A revised offtake between Lynas Rare Earths and Japan’s JARE locks in annual purchases of 5,000 tonnes of neodymium‑praseodymium at a $110/kg floor price until 2038 and commits JARE to 50% of Lynas’ heavy rare earth output, including dysprosium and terbium. The deal decouples pricing from Chinese benchmarks used in the original 2011 $250 million agreement, offering Japanese magnet and electronics manufacturers a non‑Chinese supply chain anchored on Mount Weld ore and Malaysian separation capacity. Lynas, which produced 10,908 tonnes of rare earth oxides in 2024, saw its shares jump 16% to A$20.59.

Ferreyros is deepening its strategic partnership with Minera Chinalco Peru at the Toromocho copper mine, supplying Caterpillar fleets and supporting a new Integrated Operations Management centre focused on mine-wide digitalisation. The collaboration centres on real-time monitoring and data-driven control of truck–shovel fleets and fixed plant, using OEM telemetry and analytics to optimise haulage, loading and maintenance. Ferreyros is pursuing a similar model with Glencore’s Antapaccay operation, signalling continued investment in dealer-led digital support rather than purely in-house mine control systems.

Draslovka a.s has secured a supply contract to provide sodium cyanide (NaCN) to Barrick Mining Corporation’s Nevada Gold Mines, the largest gold mining complex in the United States. The deal centres on maintaining reliable NaCN deliveries for large-scale heap leach and CIL/CIP circuits, where reagent continuity directly affects gold recovery and plant throughput. For process and supply-chain engineers, the agreement signals continued reliance on conventional cyanide leaching chemistry, with operational risk now tied more to logistics and vendor performance than to reagent substitution.

Stantec has been appointed by St Augustine Gold & Copper to lead the definitive feasibility study and engineering for the US$2.37 billion Kingking copper-gold project in Pantukan, Davao de Oro, Mindanao, a major greenfield open-pit development. The mandate covers mine planning, process plant design and infrastructure for what is expected to be one of the Philippines’ largest copper-gold operations, requiring detailed geotechnical, tailings and water management solutions in a high-rainfall, seismically active setting. For contractors and consultants, the DFS will define scope for bulk earthworks, pit slope design and large-scale materials handling systems.

ASGCO has introduced a new Belt Lifter model capable of safely raising wider conveyor belts from 48 to 72 inches (1,200–1,800 mm), targeting large primary and overland mining conveyors. The unit is engineered for heavy-duty conditions, allowing maintenance teams to lift loaded or tensioned belts to access idlers, impact beds and skirt seals without relying on chain blocks or manual jacking. This reduces exposure in confined conveyor bays and standardises belt service procedures on larger, high-capacity haul and process lines.

Taseko Mines’ Florence Copper in-situ recovery project in Arizona has begun ramping up commercial operations, producing its first copper cathodes in late February 2026 using Metso’s solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) technology. The greenfield operation leaches copper from a deep oxide deposit via injection and recovery wells, sending pregnant leach solution to a Metso SX circuit and EW cells to plate high-purity cathode on stainless steel blanks. For engineers, the project is a live test case for large-scale in-situ leaching in a water-stressed, populated basin with strict groundwater controls.

Charles Darwin University has launched the Centre for Asphalt and Road Technologies (CART) to support Northern Territory road infrastructure, building on a pavement research program started in 2024 with funding from the NT Department of Logistics and Infrastructure. The centre will focus on asphalt and granular pavement performance under the Territory’s extreme temperature cycles and heavy vehicle loads, aiming to optimise mix designs and maintenance strategies for remote highways. Outcomes are likely to influence material specifications, life-cycle costing and rehabilitation planning across NT road projects.

A near-miss incident during haul-truck maintenance has driven Nivek Industries to expand its heavy-duty support range, including the Big TED belly plate handler designed to safely lift and position several hundred kilograms of underbody steel without manual slinging. The system uses hydraulic clamping arms, a low-profile, high-capacity chassis and remote controls to keep fitters clear of suspended loads when removing dump-body pins, belly guards and wheel groups. For mine maintenance planners, these tools reduce reliance on ad hoc cribbing and chain blocks, tightening compliance with site isolation and working-at-height procedures.

Tasmania has moved to secure the long-term future of Grange Resources’ Savage River iron ore operation, tabling a bill to extend the mine’s existing lease beyond its current expiry in 2037. The magnetite mine, which feeds the 2.3 Mtpa pellet plant at Port Latta via a Savage River–Port Latta slurry pipeline, is the state’s largest mine and a major regional employer. Legislative certainty is expected to support ongoing strip mining, tailings management and staged resource development across the Savage River deposits.

Liebherr-Australia has commissioned eight new machines for Northern Star Resources across the Kalgoorlie Super Pit and another Western Australian operation, adding to an existing fleet of five Liebherr units on site. The deployment includes PR 776 mining dozers working on the Super Pit’s ultra-large open-cut benches, where high wall stability, floor control and push efficiency are critical for maintaining ore feed to the Fimiston processing plant. For geotechnical and mine planners, the expanded dozer fleet signals higher capacity for cutback development, dump shaping and haul road maintenance under tight production schedules.

Liontown Resources has doubled revenue in the December half-year as the Kathleen Valley lithium project transitions to fully underground mining, with the first stopes now in steady production. The Western Australian operation is ramping up spodumene concentrate output from its initial nameplate capacity while bedding in underground haulage and ventilation systems designed for high-grade ore zones at depth. Management is guiding to a stronger second half as underground tonnages displace remaining open-pit feed, with unit costs expected to fall as development metres convert to ore.

Ora Banda Mining has expanded gold mineralisation at its Little Gem prospect in Western Australia and identified a new zone near the Round Dam deposit, located about 3.5km from the 1.2Mtpa Davyhurst processing plant. The proximity to existing crushing, grinding and CIL infrastructure at Davyhurst materially improves the potential for near-term trucking and low-capex development of Little Gem ore. For mine planners and geotechs, the emerging satellite orebody offers optionality for short-haul open-pit designs tied into the current Davyhurst production schedule.

The National Audit Office has warned that the Department for Transport still has substantial work to do to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail, first proposed in 2014 and repeatedly reshaped by successive governments. Reviewing the programme between October 2025 and February 2026, the NAO says DfT has improved clarity but must better align the evolving rail corridor plans with national and local growth strategies across northern England. Effective joint governance between central and local authorities and systematic learning from earlier major rail schemes are flagged as critical to programme success.

Robertson Group has broken ground on a new Hazlehead Academy campus in Aberdeen, the first and largest learning estate project in the five-authority North Schools Programme, being built on existing playing fields while the current school remains operational. Project managed by Hub North Scotland and funded via the Scottish Futures Trust, the contract is tied to outcomes including defined energy efficiency targets, digital connectivity performance, ongoing building condition and embodied carbon limits. Parallel school projects will follow in Shetland, Argyll & Bute and Moray, with Balfour Beatty delivering the Moray scheme.