Geomechanics.io

ABB has been selected to design and supply the complete electrical infrastructure for Vulcan Energy’s Phase One Lionheart geothermal lithium project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley, which will co-locate renewable power generation with lithium extraction and processing. The integrated plant will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) for the European EV supply chain, requiring high-reliability power distribution, grid connection and process electrification. For engineers, the project signals growing demand for utility-scale, renewables-based electrical systems tightly coupled to hydrometallurgical lithium circuits.

Equinox Gold is divesting its Brazilian portfolio, agreeing to sell 100% interests in the Aurizona open-pit gold mine, the RDM Mine and the Bahia exploration complex to a CMOC Group subsidiary for US$1.015 billion. CMOC Chairman and CIO Liu Jianfeng framed the acquisition as a strategic move into gold, adding to a portfolio better known for copper and cobalt operations such as Tenke Fungurume. The deal signals continued Chinese capital deployment into established Brazilian gold assets, with potential changes ahead in mine planning, capital allocation and regional contractor pipelines.

Sustainability Victoria is marking 20 years as the state’s lead agency for accelerating sustainability in infrastructure, including large-scale use of recycled aggregates and reclaimed asphalt in Victorian road projects. Since 2005 it has shifted policy into on-ground practice by funding demonstration pavements, supporting specifications for recycled content in roadbase and asphalt, and backing circular-economy procurement across councils and state agencies. For civil and materials engineers, its programmes have normalised secondary materials in pavements and structures, de-risking adoption through trials, performance data and standards support.

AustStab’s 2025 Conference in Adelaide marked 30 years of the association’s work on in situ pavement recycling and stabilisation, signalling a more mature approach to reusing existing granular bases and bound layers rather than full-depth reconstruction. International experts and local contractors presented case studies on foamed bitumen, cementitious binders and lime stabilisation to improve subgrade performance, moisture resistance and fatigue life. For designers and asset managers, the focus was on life-cycle cost, carbon reduction from reduced quarry haulage, and performance-based specifications for recycled pavements.

The West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne is now open to traffic, adding twin road tunnels that provide an alternative to the West Gate Bridge and direct links to the Port of Melbourne, the CBD and CityLink. Designed to relieve a bridge that had effectively reached capacity, the new connection is expected to divert a substantial share of east–west traffic and heavy vehicles away from the existing corridor. For civil and geotechnical teams, attention will now shift from construction to long-term tunnel operations, pavement performance and groundwater/settlement monitoring.

Fortescue has entered a binding agreement to acquire the remaining 64 per cent of Alta Copper, lifting its ownership to 100 per cent in a deal valued at around $US400 million and significantly increasing its copper development pipeline in South America. The move consolidates Fortescue’s position in the Cañariaco project in northern Peru, a large-scale porphyry copper deposit with open-pit potential and long-life resource characteristics. For mine planners and geotechs, the deal signals future demand for large waste dumps, tailings capacity and associated pit slope design in a seismically active, high-altitude Andean setting.

MASPRO has logged 42 per cent year-to-date growth in orders for 2025 as it scales a mining supply chain model built around high-availability wear parts and rapid dispatch for crushers, drills and loaders. The company focuses on stocking critical spares close to major Australian mining hubs and using data on failure rates and maintenance cycles to pre-position components, cutting unplanned downtime windows that can cost large sites hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour. For maintenance and reliability teams, the approach shifts planning from reactive procurement to scheduled component change-outs with tighter lead-time risk.

Minerals 260 has reported record gold intercepts at its Bullabulling project in Western Australia, with recent drilling returning some of the highest grades yet encountered at the site. The results come from reverse circulation and diamond holes targeting extensions of known lodes along the Bullabulling shear zone, a 30km-long structure historically hosting multiple open pits. For mine planners and geotechs, the higher-grade zones within this shear-hosted system could materially change pit shell economics, strip ratios and geotechnical design around steeper, deeper wall configurations.

An Interim Modernised Agreement has been signed between Rio Tinto and the Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation, updating long‑standing arrangements covering the company’s iron ore operations on Yinhawangka country in Western Australia’s Pilbara. The interim deal is intended to reset consent, cultural heritage and benefit‑sharing frameworks following the 2020 Juukan Gorge rock shelter destruction, ahead of a fully modernised agreement. For mine planners and project teams, the move signals tighter expectations around heritage surveys, design avoidance of sensitive sites and earlier Traditional Owner engagement in approvals.

Westgold Resources plans to demerge its smaller Reedy and related gold assets into a separate vehicle, creating a new WA-focused producer targeting historically worked but under-capitalised deposits. The move carves out non-core operations from Westgold’s larger Murchison and Bryah Basin portfolio, signalling a shift in capital towards higher-grade, longer-life underground and open-pit centres. For mine planners and geotechs, the spin-out suggests renewed drilling, resource definition and potential plant reconfiguration on legacy pits and underground workings rather than greenfield development.

Wigan-based Marsden Crane Services has added a 150-tonne Liebherr LTM 1150-5.3 all terrain crane as its new flagship, featuring a five-axle carrier, seven-section 66-metre main boom and remote-controlled superstructure functions for safer site operations. With extensions, the crane reaches a 92-metre hook height and 72-metre radius, and can legally travel under STGO with 29 tonnes of its 46-tonne ballast, reducing support transport for many lifts. The unit has already erected Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s new 138 ft Aviktas gyro swing and follows Marsden’s recent addition of a 50-tonne Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 city crane used for precast lifts at Burnley FC’s stadium.

Availability of 411 purpose-built studio rooms on Newcastle’s Heber Street has been delayed by a year after Downing’s Building Safety Regulator Gateway 2 approval took 42 weeks, shifting construction start to March 2026 and first occupation to September 2028. The Simpson Haugh-designed block forms a single building in three elements of 10, 12 and 14 storeys and targets BREEAM Excellent with embedded sustainability measures. As the final phase of the Downing Plaza redevelopment of the former Newcastle & Brown Brewery site, the delay affects capacity planning alongside the existing 1,800+ student beds and 183-bed hotel already delivered.

Galliford Try’s Water Technologies team has secured Phase 1 of South West Water’s continuous water quality monitoring programme, installing 86 automatic samplers across wastewater assets in Devon and Cornwall to meet Section 82 Environment Act obligations. Sensors from RS Hydro will measure dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, turbidity and ammonia both upstream and downstream of storm overflows and sewage treatment works, with data due for public release in 2030. 3D scanning and GIS integration will be used to optimise site selection, layout planning and installation logistics.

Van Elle has agreed to sell its 2023-formed Canadian subsidiary, Van Elle Canada Inc, including its fleet of road-rail plant, to special purpose vehicle 1560169 B.C. Ltd, in partnership with rail contractor Remcan Projects LP, for approximately CAD $4.7m, with completion targeted around 17 December 2025. The deal comprises an initial CAD $2.7m cash payment, matching the net book value of key fixed assets, plus about CAD $2.0m deferred to 31 July 2026, subject to closing adjustments. Van Elle Canada, originally set up to service the delayed Metrolinx GO expansion, generated £3.5m revenue but a £1.3m loss in the year to 30 April 2025, and will continue to receive specialist rail consultancy support from Van Elle’s UK team.

Torus has awarded a £224m multi-contractor framework to deliver 9,000 new homes by 2029 and support retrofit works across its existing 41,000-home portfolio around Liverpool, Warrington and St Helens. The 13 appointed firms include Eric Wright Construction, Seddon Construction, Caddick Construction, Vistry Merseyside, Starship Modular and others covering both traditional build and modular delivery. The framework will be central to scaling fabric upgrades and new-build output, giving regional contractors a structured pipeline of housing and refurbishment projects.

Peel Waters has lodged an outline planning application with Trafford Council for the next phases of the Manchester Waters masterplan, proposing up to 2,600 homes plus office, retail, leisure and event space on a 25‑acre strip of Pomona Island between the Bridgewater and Manchester Ship Canals. The mixed‑use high‑rise district will be bookended by two existing tram stops and threaded with new promenades and cycleways, positioning it as a high‑density, transit‑oriented scheme. Earlier phases have already delivered almost 600 homes on site, with a further 500 units due to start in 2026 and 280 homes plus a Co‑op store completed at the Cornbrook gateway.

Equinox Gold has agreed to sell its entire Brazilian portfolio — the Aurizona and RDM mines plus the Bahia complex (Fazenda and Santa Luz) — to China’s CMOC Group for over US$1 billion, including US$900 million cash on closing and up to US$115 million in contingent payments tied to production. The divested assets were guided to produce 250,000–270,000 oz. of gold in 2025, while Equinox’s refocused portfolio will centre on the Greenstone (220,000–260,000 oz.), Valentine (175,000–200,000 oz. at full run-rate) and Mesquite (85,000–95,000 oz.) operations. Proceeds will be used to retire US$800 million of debt, cutting interest costs and freeing capital for expansions at Valentine, Castle Mountain and Los Filos, with group output targeted at 700,000–800,000 oz. next year.

Ionic Mineral Technologies reports its Silicon Ridge project in Utah is a halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption clay system grading about 2,700 ppm (0.27%) combined rare earths and critical metals from 106 boreholes over 10,000 m and 35 trenches across 650 acres, exceeding typical Chinese IAC grades of 500–2,000 ppm. The confirmed mineralisation currently covers only 11% of the resource area to 100 ft depth, with existing mining permits and a 74,000 ft² Provo processing plant enabling rapid start-up. Ionic MT plans a vertically integrated flowsheet producing three co-product streams—critical minerals (including gallium, germanium, scandium, lithium and tungsten), high-purity alumina and nano-silicon—with a preliminary economic assessment due in H1 2026.

Metso is promoting its Geminex™ digital twin platform as a way to move mineral processing plant control beyond traditional DCS screens towards predictive and proactive maintenance. Geminex™ integrates real-time sensor data with dynamic process models of grinding, flotation and filtration circuits to simulate plant behaviour, test “what‑if” scenarios and optimise setpoints before implementation. For operators, this signals deeper use of virtual commissioning, remote performance tuning and model-based failure prediction across comminution and concentrator lines.

Fortescue has received two Progress Rail EMD SD70J‑BB battery-electric locomotives, described as the world’s largest, for deployment on its heavy-haul iron ore network in the Pilbara. The units are designed for 100 per cent battery operation, integrating regenerative braking on long downhill runs from mine to port to recharge onboard packs and cut diesel use. For rail and mine planners, the key question will be how these high-mass, high-axle-load locomotives perform on existing Pilbara track geometry, gradients and maintenance regimes.

Severe bearing deterioration on a major strategic road bridge has been found after going unnoticed for more than 15 years, raising concerns that local authorities lack sufficient in‑house bridge engineering expertise. Inspectors identified advanced damage to key support bearings, with the defect considered potentially critical to the structure’s load‑carrying capacity and long‑term serviceability. The case is prompting calls for more specialist bridge inspectors, better asset management systems, and clearer responsibilities for monitoring ageing structures on heavily trafficked routes.

Contractors will return to the M62 Ouse Bridge over the River Ouse this weekend (13–14 December) to replace a damaged expansion joint installed only a couple of years ago, following an unexpected bolt failure earlier this year. National Highways plans to complete the joint replacement under a short-duration closure to minimise disruption on this key trans-Pennine route between junctions 36 and 37. The repeat intervention on a relatively new joint raises questions over detailing, fatigue performance and inspection regimes for heavily trafficked motorway bridges.

Plans to convert Coventry Airport into a £2.5bn battery gigafactory have moved a step forward after Warwick District Council’s planning committee approved applications covering early enabling works. The scheme, promoted as the UK’s largest battery manufacturing facility, will require full redevelopment of the existing airfield, major groundworks and new utilities to service large-scale process buildings and logistics areas. Civil and geotechnical teams can now progress detailed design for earthworks, foundations and site infrastructure ahead of main construction approvals.

UK regulators have advanced the GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX‑300 small modular reactor through the Generic Design Assessment in record time, signalling strong early confidence in the 300MWe boiling water design. The BWRX‑300 uses a simplified, natural‑circulation reactor concept derived from the ESBWR, with modular construction intended to reduce on‑site civil works, shorten programme durations and standardise below‑grade nuclear island layouts. Rapid GDA progress is likely to accelerate site‑specific geotechnical investigations, deep excavation design and nuclear‑grade concrete specification for potential UK deployments.