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Summit Minerals has agreed to acquire 100% of the historic high-grade Keystone polymetallic mine in Nevada, covering 1036 acres of holdings, including 625 acres of patented land. Historic records since 1937 report production of 36,000oz silver and 64oz gold at average grades of 32.2oz/t silver and 0.038oz/t gold (909 g/t Ag, 2.29 g/t Au), with drill core tungsten trioxide grades between 0.5% and 2.25%. The project sits in a skarn and epithermal district that also hosts Coeur’s Rochester mine and the scheelite-bearing Springer (Sutton) operation.

Construction materials distributor GRS Roadstone Group has regained full ownership by buying back Tarmac’s 23.7% stake for an undisclosed sum, following a decade in which GRS expanded ten-fold and reached £480m revenue with £3.0m pre-tax profit to 31 January 2025. The company will retain aggregate supply agreements with Tarmac and continue promoting inert waste disposal in Hertfordshire, signalling continuity for key materials flows. GRS Rail Services remains a 50:50 joint venture, operating railheads at Birmingham, Luton, Northampton, Peterborough and Wellingborough that feed HS2 aggregate supply.

Turner & Townsend has agreed to acquire Johannesburg-based Profica, adding 80 real estate project management and construction specialists to create what it claims will be Africa’s largest real estate project management consultancy. The deal expands Turner & Townsend’s African footprint from 13 to 19 cities and from 11 to 16 countries, growing its regional headcount to about 400 staff. For developers and asset owners, the combined firm signals a single, larger project controls and delivery partner for complex commercial, industrial and mixed-use schemes across the continent.

Case Construction Equipment has appointed HRN Tractors as its Scottish dealer, adding the family-owned group’s depots in Stirling, Insch, Balbeggie and Caithness to the Case UK network. HRN, formerly a John Deere dealer for 40 years and already representing Kubota, Mecalac and sister company Agritrac’s Hyundai Construction Equipment line, plans to use the tie-up to broaden its construction machinery portfolio and target more civil and groundworks contractors. Management is emphasising responsive sales support and parts-backed aftersales as the main lever to win market share.

Brogan Group and Alimak Group have formed a global sales alliance under which Alimak will promote Brogan’s CAS Common Tower and Atlas Gantries through its international contracts and distribution network, integrating them with Alimak hoists and transport platforms into a single vertical access system. The CAS Common Tower, already deployed on complex high-rise schemes such as London’s Wood Wharf and Battersea developments, centralises multiple hoists to one access point to ease logistics, reduce crane reliance and free scarce ground space. Atlas gantries target low-rise industrial and data centre projects, offering a scaffold-free option where tie-in points are limited or large, fragile plant must be installed rapidly.

Construction has begun on GTC’s community heat hub for Taylor Wimpey’s 762-home Swinnow Park estate in Wetherby, using a single large air source heat pump feeding individual heat interface units via underground flow-and-return pipework to eliminate gas boilers. The system, designed to meet the Future Homes Standard, claims 75–80% carbon reduction versus traditional gas and integrates a large thermal water storage tank providing around two hours’ storage in peak winter conditions. Smart control of the hub as a single grid exit point and off-peak charging of the thermal store aim to cut peak electrical demand and limit grid reinforcement.

Berkeley Group reported half-year revenue of £1.18bn and pre-tax profit of £254m to 31 October 2025, both down less than 8%, with net cash at £342m after £132m of share buy-backs and net asset value per share up 5% to £37.63. Chief executive Richard Stearn said highly competitive tendering and subdued housing activity, particularly in London, have kept build costs flat despite National Living Wage and National Insurance increases. He warned that Building Safety Regulator Gateway 2 delays, weak new starts and stalled live projects are straining the supply chain and risk driving experienced trades out of the sector.

Sizewell C will shift from joint leadership to a single chief executive on 1 January 2026, with current co-managing director Nigel Cann becoming CEO as the project passes final investment decision and financial close into its main construction phase. Cann brings 45 years of nuclear experience, including roles as plant manager at Dungeness B and Sizewell B and delivery director for Hinkley Point C until March 2023, which will be critical as major civils, marine works and nuclear-island construction ramp up. Co-managing director CEO Julia Pyke, who helped secure private investor and commercial bank backing for the multi-billion-pound project expected to supply around 7% of UK electricity, will step down at year-end.

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake near Yakutat, Alaska, has generated over 160 aftershocks in 24 hours, with shaking felt across southeastern Alaska and into Yukon and British Columbia, raising concern for ageing port, pipeline and road embankment infrastructure on soft coastal sediments. USGS reports shallow crustal rupture along the Fairweather–Queen Charlotte transform system, with peak ground accelerations locally exceeding typical design levels for older structures. Geotechnical teams are prioritising rapid reconnaissance of slope stability, liquefaction-prone deltaic deposits and critical lifelines, including fuel terminals and regional airstrips.

A newly built embankment along National Highway 66 at Mylakkadu in Kollam suddenly collapsed, trapping several vehicles including a school bus and opening deep ground fissures across the service road and adjacent plots. The failure occurred on a recently widened section of NH66, where fill had been placed to raise the carriageway above surrounding low-lying land, and eyewitnesses reported no prior signs of distress. State authorities have ordered a technical investigation into embankment design, fill quality, drainage provision and construction supervision, with traffic now diverted and the affected stretch closed.

Liebherr-Components has inaugurated a new hydraulic cylinder production complex in Oberopfingen, completing a three-year construction and relocation programme that began with ground-breaking in December 2022. The facility consolidates and significantly expands capacity for hydraulic cylinders with integrated mechanical manufacturing, previously carried out at the original Kirchdorf an der Iller site. For mining and heavy civil equipment OEMs, the enlarged plant signals increased availability of large, high-load cylinders critical for excavators, haul trucks and cranes, with shorter lead times and more centralised quality control.

The “independent” Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce commissioned by UK prime minister Keir Starmer has issued its final report calling for a “radical reset of [an] overly complex nuclear regulatory system”, signalling de facto deregulation of new build and life-extension projects. Proposals include streamlining multi‑stage Office for Nuclear Regulation licensing, compressing generic design assessment timelines, and reducing overlap with Environment Agency permitting. For civil and geotechnical designers on projects such as Sizewell C and future SMR sites, this could shorten consent and design-freeze periods but increase pressure to lock in safety‑critical assumptions earlier with less iterative regulatory scrutiny.

Nuclear Waste Services is exploring an unmanned, highly automated design for the UK’s planned deep Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for higher-activity radioactive waste, potentially removing routine human presence from underground vaults and access tunnels. Concepts under review include remote-operated emplacement systems, autonomous guided vehicles for waste packages, and fully automated ventilation, monitoring and backfilling operations. For geotechnical and civil designers, this points to layouts, shaft and drift geometries, and ground support that must accommodate robotic handling, long-term remote inspection and minimal maintenance access over many decades.

Welsh MPs have warned that the Great British Railways (GBR) Bill, which centralises rail planning and operations under a new GBR body, fails to address Wales’s specific infrastructure and funding needs. They argue that the legislation does not correct historic underinvestment in Welsh rail, where enhancements such as electrification and capacity upgrades on key corridors like the South Wales Main Line lag behind those in England. For civil engineers, the dispute signals continued uncertainty over long-term funding envelopes and governance for major Welsh rail renewals and enhancements.

Three major onshore transmission “electricity superhighways” across Great Britain have cleared a key hurdle as Ofgem approves revised delivery timetables and early construction funding for National Grid projects. The schemes, part of the wider Holistic Network Design to move large volumes of offshore wind and other low‑carbon generation from Scotland and coastal hubs into English demand centres, include long‑distance 400kV circuits and new substations. Early funding unlocks detailed design, ground investigations and enabling works, with programme changes intended to de‑risk consenting and construction sequencing.

Network Rail’s board has identified four “principal challenges” to meeting its Control Period 7 objectives, including funding constraints, asset condition on ageing structures and track, delivery capacity for major renewals, and integration with new digital signalling. Board papers also flag emerging tensions with HS2 over programme interfaces, access to the existing network during construction, and responsibility for shared assets such as junctions and stations. For civil and rail engineers, this points to tighter possession windows, more complex staging of bridge and track works, and potential re‑prioritisation of renewals near HS2 corridors.

US Representative John Moolenaar is pressing the State Department over what he calls “well-documented” links between Ivanhoe Atlantic and Chinese state-owned enterprises, citing CITIC and Zijin Mining’s combined 39.5% stake in related company Ivanhoe Mines as of 2020 and a $1.8 billion Ivanhoe Mines–Liberia rail rehabilitation deal for Guinean iron ore. Ivanhoe Atlantic insists it is a separate entity from Ivanhoe Mines and says its Guinea iron ore project will supply only US and allied markets, avoiding China’s Trans-Guinean Railway. The dispute signals closer US scrutiny of indirect Chinese stakes in African iron ore and copper logistics.

BRICS central banks have lifted gold’s share of their reserves by 102% since 2020, combining aggressive bullion purchases with price gains as they diversify away from US‑dollar‑denominated assets. Over the same period, Western countries recorded only a 12% rise in gold holdings, largely from price appreciation rather than additional tonnes. The deepening reserve split signals sustained official‑sector demand that will influence long‑term mine project pipelines, reserve replacement strategies and hedging decisions across gold producers.

USA Rare Earth will accelerate commercial production at its Round Top heavy rare earths deposit in Texas to late 2028, two years earlier than planned, after solvent-extraction pilot work enabled its Hydromet demonstration plant in Colorado to start five SX circuits running 2,000–4,000 hours from early 2026. The circuits will focus on dysprosium and terbium while also extracting hafnium and zirconium, feeding into a mine-to-magnet chain that includes a 310,000-square-foot Stillwater, Oklahoma plant targeting nearly 5,000 tonnes of magnets per year from 2026. Shares fell up to 4.3% to $16.56 despite the accelerated schedule.

Silver prices have broken above $60/oz for the first time, with Sprott’s Paul Wong attributing the surge to a shrinking free-trading inventory and a forecast 125 million oz supply deficit in 2025, extending a cumulative shortfall to nearly 800 million oz since 2021. London vault stocks have fallen sharply from their 2021 peak, while global ETF holdings sit around 830 million oz versus 1 billion oz in 2021, leaving limited buffer if investment demand rebounds. Additional pressure comes from China’s strict silver export controls starting in 2026 and silver’s recent addition to the USGS critical minerals list.

Panama will channel $29 million in royalties from the sale of 122,000 tonnes of copper concentrate stockpiled at First Quantum’s idled Cobre Panama mine into public works, including health centre upgrades, school expansions, road repairs and water and power systems. Under the Safe Preservation and Management Plan, First Quantum must continue paying about $15 million a month in care-and-maintenance costs, which have reached roughly $360 million since the November 2023 shutdown. A final audit due by end-February will inform decisions on restarting the 100 Mt/y nameplate operation, which produced 350,000 tonnes of copper in 2022.

Argentina’s Mendoza province has approved the PSJ Cobre Mendocino project, a $559 million joint venture between Zonda Metals and Alberdi Energy, marking its first large-scale mine in over 20 years after Senate endorsement of the environmental impact statement. The Uspallata operation is planned for 40,000 tonnes per year of copper concentrate over a 16-year mine life, using conventional flotation, with construction scheduled for 18–24 months and an estimated 3,900 construction and 2,400 operating jobs. The project now moves into detailed engineering, feasibility, cost and financing analysis before a construction decision.

Copper prices rebounded to $11,556.50/t on the LME, close to this week’s record $11,771/t, as RBC Capital Markets warned that mine disruptions and weak project pipelines mean higher prices are needed to unlock new supply. Analysts link the tight outlook to AI-driven data centre build-out, EV expansion and expectations of a US copper tariff, all adding to structural demand. The move follows a brief 1.3% pullback after Chinese data showed producer prices falling for a 38th consecutive month ahead of a key US rate decision.

Perpetua Resources has partnered with Idaho National Laboratory, under Battelle Energy Alliance, to host, commission and operate a flexible, modular pilot plant to process Stibnite project ore into military‑specification antimony trisulphide concentrate for munitions and advanced defence systems. The pilot forms part of a US Army Defence Ordnance Technology Consortium agreement, with Perpetua now holding up to US$22.4 million in DOTC funding to advance domestic critical mineral processing. It runs alongside early works on the US$1.3 billion Stibnite gold‑antimony mine in central Idaho, aimed at a fully domestic “ground‑to‑round” supply chain.