Geomechanics.io

Transport for London has restarted preliminary market engagement for the Bakerloo Line Upgrade (BLU) Stage 1 Infrastructure Works, progressing modernisation of one of London’s oldest deep tube lines. The notice covers early contractor input on complex brownfield works in constrained tunnels and stations, including track, power and signalling renewals integrated around existing assets and live operations. Contractors are being asked to respond to a refined delivery and packaging strategy aimed at reducing possession durations and construction risk while maintaining service levels.

Rainfall 64% above the February average has triggered widespread flooding and landslides across Colombia, killing at least 13 people and affecting more than 10,000, with Antioquia, Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca among the hardest-hit departments. Rivers including the Magdalena and Cauca have overtopped banks, damaging road embankments, bridge approaches and hillside settlements, and forcing evacuations in multiple municipalities. Geotechnical teams face saturated slopes, debris flows and scour at culvert and retaining-wall foundations, with authorities warning of further failures if intense rainfall persists.

Lundin Mining’s 70%-owned Caserones copper mine in Chile has become the first active operation to run an ultra-class haul truck with a hybrid-electric system, retrofitting Komatsu 930E truck #330 with a Cummins First Mode kit. The retrofit converts the diesel-electric truck to a hybrid configuration using an onboard energy storage system to capture and reuse braking energy on haul cycles. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the project provides an in-field reference for fuel burn reduction, potential payload-neutral decarbonisation, and integration of hybrid powertrains into existing 930E fleets.

AFC Energy has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Komatsu and Komatsu affiliate Industrial Power Alliance to integrate AFC’s proprietary ammonia cracking technology into a Komatsu industrial diesel internal combustion engine. The project will use ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, cracking it on-board to supply low-carbon hydrogen to the engine while retaining existing diesel engine architecture. For mine operators, this points to a potential retrofit pathway for large haul trucks and auxiliary plant without immediate replacement of high-horsepower diesel fleets.

Chevron’s Delo TorqForce MP has been approved by Allison Transmission as the first, and currently only, lubricant to meet the new TES 781 specification for stationary off-highway transmissions. TES 781 targets high-load, continuous-duty services such as hydraulic fracturing and high-pressure pumping, where transmissions run at sustained torque and temperature for long intervals. For mine operators using Allison-powered fixed or skid-mounted equipment, the approval provides a defined fluid option for warranty compliance and for managing wear, varnish and unplanned downtime in severe-duty drivetrains.

BHP’s Western Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) haul truck fleet is delivering about 127,000 t/month (1.52 Mt/y) of additional iron ore after an engineering upgrade developed with JC Hydraulic. The solution centres on modified hydraulic tipping systems on ultra-class haul trucks, enabling faster, more reliable dump cycles and reducing truck idle time at crushers and stockpiles. For mine planners and maintenance teams, the change effectively adds high-availability truck capacity without expanding fleet size, with revenue uplift estimated in the tens of millions of dollars per year.

Evolution Mining has approved a coarse particle flotation (CPF) project at the Northparkes copper-gold mine in New South Wales, targeting higher copper recoveries by floating significantly coarser grind sizes than the existing circuit. The CPF installation will sit alongside the current concentrator, aiming to reduce overgrinding energy while capturing value from coarse sulphide particles that currently report to tailings. Board signoff of this and other portfolio projects signals continued capital allocation to brownfield process upgrades rather than major greenfield expansion.

Capital expenditure at existing mine sites is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, with University of Queensland researchers pointing to a global shift towards brownfield expansion rather than new greenfield projects. Operators are pushing existing pits and underground workings deeper, upgrading hoisting systems and ventilation, and retrofitting larger haul trucks and higher-capacity crushers to lift output without new approvals. For geotechnical and mine planning teams, this means more complex slope stability, ground support and dewatering challenges in ageing infrastructure, often under tighter regulatory and social constraints.

Evolution Mining has approved a package of high-return growth projects at the Northparkes copper–gold operation while deepening its streaming and royalty partnership with Triple Flag Precious Metals. The board sign-off clears the way for capital deployment into mine-life extension and higher-throughput underground development at Northparkes, with Triple Flag expected to provide structured funding support rather than traditional debt. For geotechnical and mining teams, the move signals sustained long-hole stoping and block-cave planning at depth, plus potential upgrades to hoisting, ventilation and paste-fill infrastructure.

CSIRO is investigating petalite as an alternative lithium source to conventional spodumene, focusing on new extraction pathways that can handle its different mineralogy and lower Li₂O grades. Researchers are assessing thermochemical and hydrometallurgical routes to convert petalite concentrates into battery-grade lithium chemicals, aiming to adapt existing spodumene flowsheets with modified roasting and leaching conditions. The work targets deposits where petalite is dominant in the pegmatite assemblage, potentially unlocking resources that are currently uneconomic under standard spodumene-based processing.

Brazilian Rare Earths has validated a low-temperature extraction flowsheet achieving 97 per cent total rare earth oxide recovery from its ionic clay-hosted mineralisation in Bahia, using ambient-pressure leaching rather than conventional high-heat cracking. The process targets magnet rare earths such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, and is designed around simple tank leach, solid–liquid separation and impurity removal stages. Lower thermal input and simplified unit operations could materially cut capex and opex for future processing plants and ease scale-up of modular circuits.

Sixty North Gold Mining plans to restart the past-producing Mon gold mine in the Northwest Territories by midyear, installing a 100-tonne-per-day mill on site about 40 km from Yellowknife. CEO David Webb targets production of roughly 100 oz. gold per day from new development 17 metres beneath historical stopes in a belt that previously yielded about 15 million oz. at 16 g/t. The restart is proceeding without a formal economic study or compliant resources/reserves, with Webb opting to validate the orebody directly through mining.

Myriota has launched AssetHawk™, a rugged, low-power satellite IoT tracker designed to give global visibility of mobile assets well beyond cellular coverage, targeting remote mining fleets, rail wagons and containers. The ready-to-use unit installs in minutes on equipment at the edge and connects directly to Myriota’s low-Earth-orbit satellite network, removing the need for local gateways or SIM management. AssetHawk integrates with third-party fleet and maintenance platforms, enabling continuous tracking and condition data from haul roads, exploration camps and offshore logistics routes.

Schneider Electric has launched EcoStruxure Foxboro Software Defined Automation, billed as the first open, software‑defined Distributed Control System, combining its long‑running Foxboro DCS platform with a virtualised, hardware‑agnostic control layer. The system is aimed at hybrid and process industries, including mining, to decouple control applications from proprietary controllers and run them on standard IT infrastructure. For brownfield plants with legacy Foxboro I/A hardware, this architecture offers a staged path to modernisation, remote operations and tighter integration with existing MES and historian systems.

Eclipse Mining Technologies is rebranding and releasing a major upgrade of its SourceOne® Enterprise Knowledge Performance System (EKPS) to push AI-enabled decision support beyond mining into other large-scale industries. The new SourceOne release is positioned to integrate operational, planning and maintenance data into a single knowledge layer, aiming to make AI models more auditable and practical for site engineers and managers. For mine operators, this signals tighter linkage between short-interval control, fleet and plant data, and future cross-industry benchmarking on a common EKPS platform.

Engineered chute redesign by Weba Chute Systems at a Sierra Leone iron ore wet plant is tackling chronic screening inefficiencies linked to problematic transfer points. Technical Director Dewald Tintinger reports that the custom chute geometry was re-engineered specifically for wet, fine ore conditions, improving material presentation to the screens and reducing blockages and spillage. For plant engineers, the project shows the value of site-specific chute design in stabilising feed conditions, protecting screen media and cutting unplanned maintenance on wet processing circuits.

Draslovka and Avathon have formed a strategic commercial partnership to deploy AI‑enabled, autonomous and data‑driven operational systems across global mine sites. The combined offering links Draslovka’s real‑time mineral processing and chemical optimisation technologies with Avathon’s Autonomy for Operations platform to automate decision‑making in areas such as leach chemistry control, reagent dosing and plant throughput management. For operators, the move signals faster rollout of integrated autonomy stacks that sit on top of existing control systems rather than requiring full greenfield digital rebuilds.

Inner Mongolia Guangna Coal has signed a deal with Shaanxi Tonly Heavy Industry, CiDi, CATL and Jiangsu Hengwang Digital Technology to deploy 500 all‑electric, autonomous wide‑body mining trucks at its Wuhai operations. CiDi will provide the autonomous haulage system, CATL will supply high‑capacity traction batteries, and Hengwang will integrate fleet control into a smart mine platform. The project signals rapid scaling of battery‑electric AHS fleets in Chinese coal, with implications for pit design, power infrastructure and maintenance regimes.

Zoomlion has secured overseas mining and earthmoving equipment orders worth RMB 1.1 billion (just under US$160 million) following live demonstrations at its Changsha headquarters in Hunan. International customers attended on-site trials of new large-capacity excavators, haul trucks and loaders integrated with the company’s smart mining solutions platform. The deals signal further penetration of Chinese OEM fleets into global open-pit operations, with buyers evidently prioritising factory-supported autonomy-ready systems and remote monitoring over purely mechanical fleet upgrades.

SmartFleetDX, the digital solutions arm of BIA Group, has entered a strategic partnership with Wabtec Digital Mine to distribute Wabtec’s Gen3 Collision Avoidance System (CAS) and AI Smart Cameras. The agreement adds Gen3 CAS – widely used for proximity detection and vehicle-to-vehicle alerts on large haul trucks and loaders – into SmartFleetDX’s fleet management and monitoring offering. For mine operators, the move signals broader access to interoperable, retrofit-ready safety hardware that can be integrated with existing digital platforms for mixed fleets.

Government plans to overhaul construction apprenticeships by introducing “sampling” in competence-based assessment, cutting mandatory skills and knowledge criteria in trades such as carpentry and joinery by 60–70% from the current 70 items, and allowing end point assessment organisations to design their own processes. British Woodworking Federation chief executive Helen Hewitt warns this conflicts with Building Safety Act competence requirements, jeopardises CSCS recognition and risks undertrained workers handling life-safety products like fire doors. More than 30 organisations in the Construction Coalition have already forced a pause on the reforms, but employers are delaying apprentice recruitment amid ongoing uncertainty.

Astron Limited’s Donald mineral sands joint venture in western Victoria has executed a Journey and Understanding Agreement with the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, covering Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagulk Traditional Owner groups. The agreement sets out cultural heritage management, on‑Country access and employment pathways as Astron advances planning for large‑scale zircon, ilmenite and rare earths production from the Donald and Jackson deposits. For project engineers, the deal reduces tenure and approvals risk around mine layout, overburden stripping and infrastructure corridors across Native Title areas.

Bulk Expo has named Australian instrumentation specialist SRO Technology as a platinum sponsor for the 2024 Australian Bulk Handling Expo, held biennially in Melbourne for bulk materials handling, storage and conveying. SRO Technology supplies belt scale systems, density gauges and level measurement instrumentation widely used on overland conveyors, shiploaders and stockpile management in coal, iron ore and quarry operations. Their backing signals strong vendor engagement around higher-accuracy in-line measurement and process control for large-capacity bulk terminals and mine load‑out facilities.

Sandvik has launched the mid-range RG550Be drill bit resharpening machine, extending its RG-series portfolio between the smaller RG420 and the high-capacity RG600Pro to cover a broader spread of rotary and DTH bit sizes. The RG550Be targets mines seeking in-house bit maintenance where full automation is not yet justified, offering programmable grinding cycles and standard Sandvik bit geometry profiles to maintain penetration rates and reduce bit replacement frequency. For operations engineers, the expanded range allows closer matching of machine capacity to fleet size and bit diameter, improving utilisation of workshop grinding assets.