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Thiess has secured a five-year alliance agreement with Harmony to deliver bulk earthworks, workshop construction and mining services at the greenfield Eva Copper Mine Project in the Cloncurry region of Queensland, with the mining scope valued at about A$700 million. The contract covers establishment of mine support infrastructure and initial material movement, positioning Thiess to manage both early-stage civil works and ongoing production mining. For geotechnical and civil teams, the deal signals imminent large-scale earthworks and workshop foundation construction on a previously undeveloped copper site.

Allison Transmission is expanding its Indian mining presence with automatic transmissions deployed on Shar Projects’ new XCMG haul truck fleet, supporting the government’s Make in India and industrial modernisation programmes. The move extends Allison’s propulsion solutions from defence and on‑highway commercial vehicles into heavy mining applications, pairing its fully automatic gearboxes with XCMG’s large-capacity trucks for overburden and ore haulage. For mine operators, the combination targets smoother torque delivery, reduced driveline shock and lower operator fatigue compared with manual or automated manual transmissions.

Wärtsilä will supply engines, controls and auxiliary systems for a new 120 MW flexible engine power plant in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, to expand power for Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM), owned by Northern Star Resources. The contract, placed by independent power producer Zenith Energy Operations, adds dedicated generation capacity for one of Australia’s largest open-pit gold operations. For mine operators, the project signals continued reliance on high-availability, engine-based thermal power in remote gold districts, complementing but not replacing on-site renewables and storage.

Metso has opened a new engineering hub in Pittsburgh, USA, focused on bulk material handling and port solutions to support mines and terminals across North America. The office will concentrate expertise in conveyors, shiploaders, stacker-reclaimers and related wear parts and services, integrating with Metso’s existing grinding, pyro and smelting service lines led by Senior Vice President Jonathan Allen. Closer regional design and troubleshooting support should shorten turnaround for upgrades to high-capacity loading systems and brownfield materials handling retrofits.

Iron Mine Contracting has secured a 39‑month mining services contract with Covalent Lithium to deliver drill, blast, load and haul, and run‑of‑mine management at the Mt Holland hard‑rock lithium operation in Western Australia’s Goldfields. The scope covers full open‑pit production support for Covalent’s Mt Holland mine and concentrator, which will feed spodumene concentrate to the company’s Kwinana Refinery now in commissioning. The deal signals long‑term third‑party involvement in both production drilling and material movement at one of Western Australia’s key lithium projects.

BHP has agreed a US$2 billion deal with Global Infrastructure Partners, now part of BlackRock, to restructure its 85% share of the Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) inland power network in the Pilbara via a dedicated trust. The transaction separates power infrastructure ownership from mining operations across WAIO’s four main joint ventures, signalling a shift towards third‑party capital for high‑voltage transmission and generation assets. For mine planners and electrical engineers, the move points to longer‑term, utility‑style management of load growth, decarbonisation projects and network reliability.

Perpetua Resources has signed an agreement with Idaho National Laboratory, operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, to host, commission and run a flexible, modular pilot plant to recover critical and defence-related minerals, including antimony, from Perpetua’s orebodies. The pilot is expected to test flowsheets for selective antimony recovery alongside other strategic elements, using containerised process modules that can be reconfigured for different ore types and chemistries. Outcomes will inform full‑scale processing design for the Stibnite Gold Project and potential US domestic supply chains for military‑grade antimony products.

Aurecon has been appointed Engineering Program Partner for Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s Sustaining Capital teams in Western Australia from October 2025 to October 2028, extending its long-running role on Pilbara brownfield projects. The mandate covers multi‑disciplinary engineering for fixed plant, rail and port assets across RTIO’s iron ore network, including structural upgrades, materials handling improvements and life‑extension works on existing processing infrastructure. For geotechnical and civil teams, the partnership signals continued demand for staged upgrades, brownfield tie‑ins and asset integrity assessments rather than major greenfield expansions.

Atlas Copco’s X-Air 410-12 PACE portable compressor, distributed by CEA, targets road and infrastructure works with a single unit delivering variable pressure via its PACE (Pressure Adjusted through Cognitive Electronics) control system. The machine is fitted with a Stage IIIA Caterpillar engine to cut fuel consumption and operating costs while maintaining high free air delivery for applications such as pavement breaking, shotcreting and sandblasting. For contractors, the key gain is higher utilisation from one compressor across multiple pressure/flow regimes instead of running several fixed-pressure units.

New research on Australian expansive clays warns that more frequent intense rainfall and drought cycles are accelerating differential movement and cracking in lightweight buildings, pavements and transport corridors founded on shrink–swell soils. The work points to heave and settlement driven by deep moisture fluctuations, with particular concern for lightly loaded slabs, shallow footings and low-volume roads where historical climate data underestimates design suction changes. Engineers are urged to revisit site classification, footing depth, drainage and moisture barriers, and to integrate updated climate projections into geotechnical design for new and existing assets.

Road maintenance planning in the City of Bendigo has been overhauled using GBM Konect integrated directly with the council’s asset management system, linking live field data from graders, patching trucks and concreting crews to central asset records. Crews now capture condition data, photos and completed works on mobile devices in real time, feeding GIS-based maps that prioritise pavement interventions and reduce duplicated site visits. For contractors and councils, the approach shows how tighter integration between field data capture and asset registers can sharpen programming of resurfacing and rehabilitation works.

Technicians suspended on ropes have completed nine consecutive nights of at-height inspections on Liverpool’s 138m St Johns Beacon, requiring night-time closure of surrounding city centre streets. Rope access teams inspected exposed concrete and structural steelwork on the tower’s shaft and viewing pod, carrying out non-destructive testing to assess material condition and any localised deterioration. Findings will inform future maintenance and potential strengthening strategies for the 1960s structure, where access constraints make rope techniques more practical than large temporary scaffolds or crane platforms.

Mineral Resources has begun full operations at its Onslow Iron port facilities at the Port of Ashburton, using purpose-built transhippers to move ore from a 220,000t enclosed storage facility to deep-water capesize vessels offshore. The system is designed for low-dust handling, with covered conveyors and a fully enclosed shiploader feeding 20,000t transhippers that shuttle to a 25m-deep anchorage. For port, civil and materials engineers, the project showcases large-scale, low-footprint iron ore export using off‑shore loading rather than traditional long trestle wharves.

Liontown Resources has signed a new spodumene concentrate offtake agreement with Chinese cathode producer Canmax Technologies, shortly after running its first online auction for product from the 3Mtpa Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia. The deal adds a major long-term buyer alongside existing contracts with Tesla and LG Energy Solution, diversifying sales away from purely fixed-price arrangements. For miners, the move signals growing use of auction platforms and mixed pricing structures to manage spodumene price volatility and counterparty risk.

Wildcat Resources has extended its Bolt Cutter Central lithium discovery in Western Australia, with new drilling indicating a larger mineralised system than initially defined. Recent reverse circulation and diamond holes have expanded the strike and depth continuity of spodumene-bearing pegmatites, suggesting potential to grow the existing resource footprint. For mine planners and geotechs, the results point to a more substantial open-pit or potential underground scenario, with further infill and step-out drilling likely to refine geometry, grade distribution and pit shell economics.

Thiess has secured a $700 million alliance agreement with Harmony Gold Mining to deliver multiple work packages for the Eva copper project in north-west Queensland. The contract covers mine development and operations support at the planned open-pit operation, including drill-and-blast, load-and-haul, and associated mining services over a multi-year term. The deal signals continued contractor-led development of large-scale copper assets in the Mount Isa–Cloncurry district, with Thiess likely to deploy its existing large truck–shovel fleet and technical services teams already active in the region.

A new $25,000 scholarship package is targeting Whitsundays school leavers to study science and environmental disciplines at James Cook University’s Townsville campus, building a local pipeline of skills for mining and resources projects in North Queensland. The funding is structured to support undergraduate study in areas such as environmental science, geology and related STEM fields that directly feed into mine planning, rehabilitation and water management roles. For operators in the Bowen and Galilee basins, this signals a stronger regional talent base for environmental approvals, closure planning and ESG reporting.

Critical Metals has signed a term sheet to form a 50:50 carried-interest joint venture with Romanian state-owned processor FPCU, securing long-term offtake rights for 50% of concentrate from the Tanbreez heavy and medium rare earth project in Greenland with no capex, debt or equity issuance required for the new plant. The JV will design, finance, build and operate a rare earth processing facility in Romania, supplying NATO-aligned feedstock to EU advanced manufacturing, electrification and defence sectors. This deal follows an October letter of intent with US processor REalloys for a 10-year offtake covering a further 15% of Tanbreez production.

Spark NEL, the consortium delivering Victoria’s multi‑billion‑dollar North East Link road scheme, has appointed UK-based nPlan to provide AI-led schedule assurance and risk management as the project enters its final phases. nPlan’s platform will analyse thousands of historic construction programmes to stress-test the remaining schedule, flagging high‑risk activities and likely delay chains across tunnelling, major interchanges and arterial road upgrades. For contractors and clients, this signals growing use of data-driven schedule forensics to manage programme risk on large, complex highway PPPs.

Network Rail has completed the rebuild of the Banff Turnpike railway bridge near Keith, enabling the A95 trunk road to reopen around two weeks ahead of programme. The scheme involved full bridge renewal over an operational rail corridor, requiring coordinated possessions, temporary traffic management on the A95 and staged reconstruction to maintain rail integrity. Early reopening reduces disruption for freight and local traffic on this key north-east Scotland route and signals that remaining works are now largely confined to rail-side finishing and monitoring activities.

Luton Airport’s expansion, including raising its passenger cap from 18M to 32M a year and adding a new terminal, can proceed after the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the transport secretary’s development consent order. The scheme, promoted by Luton Rising, entails significant airfield, apron and landside works, plus upgrades to the M1–A1081 corridor and local rail/bus interchanges. Campaign group LADACAN is now considering an appeal, prolonging uncertainty for detailed phasing, surface access design and environmental mitigation commitments.

The Department for Infrastructure has opened procurement for a £48M first-phase flood‑alleviation scheme in Portadown, targeting repeated inundation along the River Bann and its tributaries. The works will form part of a long‑planned programme to protect the town, which has seen multiple significant flood events over recent decades affecting residential, commercial and transport assets. Contractors will be bidding into a DfI‑led framework where fluvial hydraulics, floodwall and embankment design, and integration with existing river defences will be central to winning strategies.

Modern quarry sites are being forced to overhaul operational management as rising diesel and lubricant prices, escalating maintenance on large haul fleets and crushers, and persistent labour shortages erode already tight margins. Operators are turning to tighter fuel burn monitoring on 50–100 t rigid dump trucks, predictive maintenance on primary jaw and cone crushers, and closer cycle-time analysis on loading–hauling circuits to cut idle time. Stricter blasting, dust and traffic-safety regulations are also driving more formalised traffic management plans and data-led risk assessments across benches, haul roads and processing areas.

Work to extend HS2’s longest cut-and-cover “green tunnel” near Greatworth, West Northamptonshire has advanced after engineers realigned a local road to create the working width needed for the next excavation phase. The realignment allows construction teams to continue forming the reinforced concrete box that will later be buried and landscaped to restore agricultural land and visual screening over the railway. For designers and contractors, the sequence underlines the importance of early highway diversions to maintain traffic while maximising safe access for deep excavation and heavy plant.