Geomechanics.io

Gow Plant Hire is deploying two Yanmar C50R-5ATV tracked carriers (6,390kg operating weight, 3,800kg payload) to move fencing materials, aggregates, drilling support kit and backfill across soft, high-ground wind farm sites in the Scottish Highlands. The hydrostatic transmission and 180° rotating skip are being used to maintain traction on temporary access tracks and unload accurately without repositioning on narrow corridors. Supplied by dealer Field and Forest Ltd in Broxburn, the units have been in service since October 2024 on fencing and ground investigation works linked to Scotland’s NPF4-driven onshore wind expansion.

Thiess, together with MACA and RTL Mining and Earthworks, has visited Norton Gold Fields’ Mulgarrie operation near Kalgoorlie, where an autonomous haulage system (AHS) trial using EACON Mining Technology’s retrofitted trucks is under way. The trial, run with Norton Gold Fields (owned by Zijin Mining Group), is testing retrofit autonomy on an existing truck fleet rather than deploying factory-built autonomous units. For mine operators, successful validation would support lower‑capex conversion of conventional haul trucks to AHS across similar Australian gold and bulk operations.

Transport for Greater Manchester has launched a £150M programme of Metrolink works in 2026 to increase capacity and resilience across the Bee Network’s 103km light rail system and 99 stops. The package is expected to include track renewals on heavily trafficked corridors, overhead line and signalling upgrades, and targeted depot and stabling enhancements to support higher-frequency services. Engineers will need to manage works around live operations, with possession planning and temporary speed restrictions critical to maintaining timetable reliability during construction.

Ageing, overloaded wastewater networks that are stalling new housing schemes can often gain capacity through smarter screening rather than new trunk sewers, with optimised inlet screens reducing ragging, headloss and unplanned spills at treatment works. By improving bar spacing, screen geometry and automated cleaning regimes at key pinch points, operators can increase effective hydraulic capacity in existing pipes and wet wells while cutting pump blockages and storm overflow activations. For civil engineers, this shifts early-stage design towards network audits, hydraulic modelling and targeted screen upgrades before committing to major pipeline construction.

Arup has appointed Tony Gee as strategic partner for the next design phase of the Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) programme, which is developing a low-mass, battery-powered tram system intended to run on shallow, prefabricated slab track to minimise utility diversions. The partnership will focus on detailed civil and trackform design for future route sections beyond the initial Coventry city centre demonstrator, including integration with existing highways and tight urban geometry. For civil and geotechnical teams, the work will test repeatable foundation solutions and modular track systems that can be installed with limited possession windows and constrained excavation depths.

Cornish Lithium has secured planning permission from Cornwall Council’s mineral planning authority to drill for lithium at its Copper House site near Burncoose and Redruth, progressing from exploration towards potential pilot-scale production. The consent allows test drilling and associated surface infrastructure on a historically mined area, targeting lithium-bearing geothermal brines within the Cornubian granite. For civil and geotechnical teams, the project signals upcoming work on drill pad construction, groundwater management and monitoring, and integration of mineral operations with existing local infrastructure and environmental constraints.

United Utilities has started a £34.4M upgrade of the Crewe wastewater treatment works, where Costain is refurbishing biological filters using techniques adapted from industrial cooling systems. The approach is expected to extend filter asset life and improve process performance without full replacement, reducing on-site civil works and programme risk. For designers and contractors, the scheme signals growing crossover between process plant cooling technologies and refurbishment strategies for ageing wastewater infrastructure.

Glencore mining engineer Arabella Dow describes how early exposure to mine sites, including open-cut coal operations in New South Wales, and structured vacation programmes led her into a technical production role overseeing drill-and-blast and short-term scheduling. She points to persistent barriers such as limited female amenities underground, ad hoc parental leave arrangements on remote FIFO rosters, and a lack of women in senior technical and statutory positions. Dow argues that visible female engineers in front-line roles and formal mentoring networks are critical to retaining women through the graduate-to-superintendent career transition.

AMEC has urged the Federal Government to tackle workforce shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks in Australia’s critical minerals sector, warning that current road, rail and energy constraints are delaying new projects. The submission calls for targeted investment in regional power and transport corridors serving remote exploration and mining hubs, alongside streamlined approvals and stronger community engagement frameworks. For project engineers, the message is that permitting timelines, grid access and haulage capacity may become as decisive as ore grades in determining project viability.

Mapping of Australia’s vanadium resources by University of Sydney PhD student Marliana Widyastuti is using soil geochemistry and machine‑learning analysis of legacy datasets to pinpoint prospective deposits for steel alloys and vanadium redox flow batteries. The work integrates multi‑element soil surveys, mineralogical characterisation and spatial statistics to distinguish vanadium hosted in titanomagnetite, shales and laterites across different regolith profiles. Outcomes are expected to guide targeted drilling, refine grade–tonnage estimates and de‑risk exploration in under‑sampled terrains.

Michelle Radley, general manager of Rio Tinto’s Dampier Ports, outlines how she is reshaping leadership culture across the iron ore export hubs of Parker Point and East Intercourse Island ahead of International Women’s Day. She focuses on frontline engagement with stevedores, maintenance crews and marine pilots, and on building more diverse supervisor pipelines in a traditionally male-dominated port environment. For mining engineers and port planners, her approach signals stronger emphasis on people-centred operational decision-making alongside throughput, berth utilisation and shiploading performance.

Australia has again ranked among the world’s top mining investment destinations, with multiple Australian jurisdictions placed near the top of global competitiveness tables for policy stability, geological prospectivity and permitting performance. International rankings cite low sovereign risk, established infrastructure around major iron ore, coal and critical minerals hubs, and a mature regulatory framework for mine approvals and rehabilitation bonds. For project developers, this signals continued favourable conditions for financing large-scale open-pit and underground expansions, particularly in battery metals and high-grade iron ore districts.

South32’s Hermosa zinc-silver project in Arizona has advanced towards US federal approval after the US Forest Service issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Record of Decision supporting development on Coronado National Forest land, including a primary access road, secondary dry-stack tailings facility and part of a 138 kV transmission line to be built by UniSource Energy Services. The preferred alternative is designed to avoid traffic near Patagonia, minimise land disturbance on a roughly 750-acre surface footprint, and use about 90% less water than many regional mines, while incorporating nearly 140 additional conservation, mitigation and monitoring measures. A 45-day objection period plus a possible 45-day resolution phase precede a Final Record of Decision expected in July, with Hermosa projected to support up to 900 jobs at peak production.

Luca Mining has intersected high-grade mineralisation below existing workings at its Tahuehueto underground mine in Durango, with DDH26-SU-01 cutting 7.6 m at 14.27 g/t gold, 46.64 g/t silver, 0.33% Cu, 2.57% Pb and 1.19% Zn from 80.9 m, and DDH26-SU-03 returning 13.2 m at 6.66 g/t gold from 42.7 m. The new zones lie about 30 m below Level 23, which already hosts underground infrastructure, and grades are several times the current ~4 g/t AuEq head grade from the 1,000 t/d mill commissioned in 2025. Luca has increased the 2026 exploration budget at Tahuehueto by 40% to $3.5 million, with 47 drill holes totalling roughly 10,400 m completed so far across the Creston and Santiago vein targets, where brecciated quartz–sulphide veins remain open down plunge.

Oklahoma is positioning itself as a critical minerals processing hub rather than a mining state, anchored by Emirates Global Aluminium’s proposed US$4 billion primary aluminium smelter at the Port of Inola on the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River system and backed by surplus low‑cost power from wind and natural gas. USA Rare Earth is building a vertically integrated rare earth magnet plant in Stillwater with about US$1.6 billion in public and private funding, while Stardust Power (NASDAQ: SDST) is advancing a lithium refinery in Muskogee with Sumitomo offtake and key permits secured. The cluster targets defence and aerospace demand around Tinker Air Force Base and other installations, aiming to plug the “missing middle” between raw mineral supply and finished components.

United States Antimony has secured approval to uplist from NYSE American to the New York Stock Exchange under ticker UAMY, with trading to start on 11 March and its share price jumping about 10%, valuing the company at US$1.4 billion. The Texas-based producer has also received US$27 million in US Defense Department funding to expand antimony extraction and refining, centred on a Montana smelter rated at 5 million lb/year of antimony metal. The company plans a fully integrated supply chain by adding ore extraction in Alaska for defence, battery and flame-retardant markets.

SANY is using CONEXPO 2026 to showcase an AI Service Assistant and remote-control systems aimed at keeping large excavators, rigid trucks and quarry loaders operating closer to design performance. The AI platform supports predictive maintenance and fault diagnosis across mixed fleets, while remote-control kits allow operators to run machines from offsite control rooms in high-risk areas such as highwalls, stockpile edges and crusher feed zones. For mine and quarry owners, the focus is on reducing unplanned downtime and extending component life rather than adding new iron.

Sandvik Mining’s Zeltweg plant has shipped the first Sandvik MC431 continuous miner to Australia after completing factory acceptance testing, extending the MC430 platform that has logged 13 years of mechanical cutting performance in South Africa. The MC431 is engineered for high-capacity roadway development in hard rock and coal, with upgraded cutting power and ground support integration aimed at improving advance rates and profile control. For Australian operators, the machine signals a shift towards more standardised, OEM-supported continuous mechanical cutting fleets in place of drill-and-blast in selected headings.

Codelco has signed a collaboration framework with Microsoft to evaluate joint initiatives in artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, automation and digital security as part of its digital transformation strategy. The agreement, signed by Codelco CEO Rubén Alvarado and Microsoft President Brad Smith, will focus on applying cloud-based analytics and AI tools across mine planning, processing and asset management. For engineers, the deal signals more data-driven optimisation of concentrators and smelters, tighter cybersecurity around OT networks, and potential expansion of predictive maintenance on critical mobile and fixed plant.

Weir has secured a contract to supply ENDURON® high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) for the tertiary crushing circuit in Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef Phase 2 concentrator expansion in South Africa. The HPGR circuit will be integrated as part of the Phase 2 flowsheet rather than relying solely on conventional cone crushing, targeting improved energy efficiency and finer product for downstream milling. For process engineers, the move signals continued adoption of HPGR technology on large-scale PGM–nickel concentrators to cut specific energy and potentially reduce overall comminution footprint.

DELKOR India has secured an EPC contract from Arab Potash Company to supply a 50 m diameter DELKOR Thickener for the Hot Leach Potash (HLP) circuit in the firm’s latest capacity expansion project. The large-diameter unit is designed for high-throughput liquid/solid separation in hot brine conditions, a critical bottleneck in potash crystallisation and recovery. For process and tailings engineers, the installation signals further scaling of HLP operations at Arab Potash’s Jordan facilities, with implications for water balance, underflow rheology and downstream evaporation capacity.

Cohda Wireless and Spectrum FiftyNine are deploying compact V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) modules at Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia to deliver real-time proximity awareness between heavy vehicles and personnel. The system integrates Cohda’s V2X software stack with Spectrum FiftyNine’s low-profile hardware, Roobuck cap lamps and Maptek’s mine planning and visualisation tools to create a unified situational awareness layer. For geotechnical and operations teams, this enables tighter traffic management in constrained headings and declines without relying solely on line-of-sight or radio voice calls.

Jon Whelan has been appointed chair of the Austroads Board, bringing four decades’ experience with the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport, where he is currently Chief Executive. Starting his career in a pavements laboratory, Whelan has a technical background in road materials and surfacing performance as well as network-level transport planning. His leadership is likely to influence future Austroads guidance on pavement design, asset management and multi-modal transport standards across Australian and New Zealand road agencies.

Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission Local Government Grant Program is allocating a further $2.4 million to councils to upgrade local road safety infrastructure. Bayside City Council will use its share to construct five raised “wombat” pedestrian crossings and reduce speed limits at a Brighton roundabout, targeting lower impact speeds and better visibility at conflict points. For designers and traffic engineers, the works signal continued state backing for vertical deflection devices and speed management on suburban collector roads.