Geomechanics.io

Capitan Silver’s Cruz de Plata project in Durango has increased inferred contained metal at the Capitan Hill deposit to 39.8 million tonnes grading 0.41 g/t gold (525,000 oz) and 3.3 g/t silver (4.2 million oz), a 72% gold and 129% silver gain over the 2020 resource. The pit-constrained update uses a 0.18 g/t gold cut-off and a C$3,465/oz gold price, based on 12,209 metres of RC drilling in 49 holes. An expanded 15,000‑metre RC programme, two-thirds complete, is now targeting down-dip extensions of the Jesus Maria silver trend and other high-grade zones.

Pan American Silver has acquired 18.75 million units of Galleon Gold at C$0.60 per unit via private placement, giving it a 14.7% non-diluted stake and potential 29.7% ownership on a partially diluted basis through 9.38 million warrants at C$0.75 exercisable to December 2027. The move consolidates Pan American’s exposure to Galleon’s West Cache gold project near Timmins, Ontario, without immediately triggering control status. A standstill limits conversion of an existing unsecured convertible debenture and warrant exercise above 19.9% unless Galleon shareholders approve Pan American as a control person.

Uranium explorer DevEx Resources has installed former Rio Tinto battery materials chief Marnie Finlayson as managing director and, on her first day, agreed a A$7.5 million deal to acquire Alligator Energy’s Northern Territory uranium portfolio. Together with ground bought from Rio Tinto last month, DevEx now controls a contiguous 9,200km² position in the Alligator Rivers Uranium Province, which has historically yielded more than 700Mlb U₃O₈ at operations such as Ranger and Jabiluka. A A$32 million placement at 14.5c, plus a planned A$3 million SPP, will fund an expanded 2026 drilling campaign on McArthur River Basin and Alligator Rivers targets.

Copper futures on the London Metal Exchange jumped 2.2% to a record $11,705/t on Friday as Citigroup forecast a copper deficit driven by US stockpiling and predicted prices could reach $13,000/t in Q2 2026. Citi, led by analyst Max Layton, expects global end-use demand to rise 2.5% in 2026 on lower interest rates, US fiscal expansion, European rearmament and energy-transition spending, while inventories on global exchanges have climbed to 656,000 t, about 60% in Comex warehouses. Goldman Sachs and Macquarie counter that physical supply remains adequate and see prices above $11,000/t as unsustainable before at least 2029.

Sandvik has broken ground on a new C$85 million ($61m), 135,000-square-foot mining equipment facility on a 115-acre site in Greater Sudbury, replacing its 40-year-old Lively operation and ultimately supporting up to 400 employees and 61 new jobs. Backed by up to C$4 million from the Invest Ontario Fund, the plant will double existing workshop capacity and add BEV-dedicated infrastructure, welding and paint booths, and a simulator area for operator and maintenance training. Construction starts this month, with opening targeted for Q3 2027.

Orla Mining shares fell as much as 9.5% to C$17.30 on Friday after Fairfax Financial sold 25 million shares at C$17.6435, cutting its stake from 16.7% to 9.4% and raising about C$441.1 million. The Vancouver-based gold miner, now valued just under C$6 billion, has seen its stock more than double this year on record gold prices despite major shareholders exiting. Orla operates the Camino Rojo open pit and developing underground mine in central Mexico and the Musselwhite mine in Ontario, together forecast to produce 265,000–285,000 oz gold in 2025.

Gold projects drove 65% of Australia’s FY25 mining deals, with $12.6b of $18.7b in transactions and a 94% surge in gold sector market capitalisation to $64.8b as prices passed $5,341/oz, while overall mid-tier market cap rose 15% to $128.6b. Critical minerals lagged, with market capitalisation down 20% to $37.1b and operating cash flow falling 71% to $0.9b, despite the $13b US–Australia agreement and new tax credits. Of 900 identified critical mineral projects, 124 are “investment-ready” but stalled pre‑FID, most with NPVs clustered around $600m and weak NPV-to-capex ratios, leaving a financing and offtake gap that foreign partners from the US, Japan and Korea are now targeting.

Fortescue will partner with Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group (TISCO), part of China Baowu, to design, build and operate a pilot hydrogen-based plasma-enhanced ironmaking line capable of producing up to 5,000 tpa of molten iron, targeting direct use of Pilbara ores without sintering, pelletising or coking. The work sits alongside Fortescue’s $75 million Christmas Creek green metals project and Rio Tinto’s more than $35 million backing of Calix’s ZESTY electric-heated, hydrogen-reduction plant in Western Australia. IEEFA notes most Australian green iron projects remain at scoping or pre-feasibility, despite a new A$1 billion federal green iron fund.

Kier has secured two Early Contractor Involvement design contracts with Southern Water worth a combined £44.4M under the AMP8 delivery programme, targeting capacity increases and environmental performance upgrades across the utility’s wastewater and water treatment assets. The work will focus on front-end design for process optimisation, hydraulic capacity improvements and compliance with tighter discharge and water quality standards due in AMP8. For civil and geotechnical teams, this signals upcoming packages for new or expanded treatment structures, associated earthworks and below-ground infrastructure in Southern Water’s region.

Heidelberg Materials UK is trialling CarbonCure technology in ready-mixed concrete at its Greenwich plant in London, injecting pure manufactured CO₂ into fresh concrete where it mineralises permanently and allows around 5% less cement to be used. The process is claimed to cut concrete-associated emissions by 7–11 kg CO₂/m³ with no loss of performance, while potentially increasing strength through more efficient hydration. The Thameside plant also supplies calcined clay, evoBuild low carbon GGBS, crushed concrete, accelerators and evoZero near‑zero cement, positioning it as a low‑carbon materials hub.

Approval has been granted for large-scale extraction and remediation across 200 acres of the former Ravenscraig Steelworks in North Lanarkshire, covering Meadowhead, land beside The Craig urban park and the Ravenscraig regional sports facility, and plots TC1–TC3 north of New College Lanarkshire Motherwell Campus. Works will remove deep reinforced concrete foundations and process more than 2.7 million cubic metres of material for extraction, recycling and backfilling in phased campaigns starting early next year. The treated land is expected to unlock capacity for up to 2,000 homes, supported by a new road and active travel links from Motherwell into the site.

A Cornish roofer has been fined after repeatedly ignoring an HSE prohibition notice and requests for information issued under Section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, following roof replacement work carried out without any scaffolding. Steven Hendry, trading as Apex Roofing & Property Services of Marthus Court, Liskeard, was verbally abusive to inspector Hatti Shipp, continued working without edge protection, and failed to attend court, leading to a warrant for his arrest. Plymouth Magistrates Court fined him £400, ordered £3,852 costs, and compelled him under Section 42 HSWA to supply the requested information by 1 March 2026.

Construction plant dealer Warwick Ward (Machinery) Ltd has entered administration after 55 years of trading, with joint administrators from Interpath appointed on 3 December 2025 and most of its 89 staff already made redundant. The Barnsley-based firm, which also operated depots in Bromsgrove and Harlow and supplied Case, Terex, Ausa, Faresin and Sunward equipment, saw performance swing from a £679,000 pre-tax profit on £51.2m sales to a £1.3m loss on £45.3m turnover in its first year under an employee ownership trust. Administrators cite reduced capital spending in construction, groundworks and waste recycling, and are now seeking buyers for the company’s assets.

McLaren Construction has started main works on Wrexham AFC’s new 5,500-seat Kop Stand, a Populous-designed structure that will lift the Racecourse Ground’s capacity above 18,000 and is targeted for UEFA Category 4 compliance by the 2026/27 season. Early works have included reduced-level excavation, a stabilised construction platform, piling mat installation, crane platforms and initial piling, with foundations, reinforced concrete lift cores and internal service ducting now progressing on a tight, live stadium footprint. The steel frame will comprise about 1,500 tonnes of steel, followed by precast terrace units, slip-formed concrete cores for roof stability, and a brick façade referencing Wrexham’s “Terracottapolis” heritage.

UK net zero building targets for 2030 and 2050 are at risk, with a House of Commons energy security and net zero committee report warning of a shortfall of at least 250,000 construction workers for new housing alone, plus large numbers for retrofit. MPs call for a nationally recognised, industry-backed construction and retrofit skills programme, expanded “try-before-you-buy” training, and targeted public funding to support SMEs in taking on inexperienced trainees. The report also flags likely short‑term reliance on importing specialist skills unless domestic completion and retention rates in construction FE improve sharply.

Industry ingenuity and breakthroughs in tunnelling were recognised at the NCE Tunnelling Awards 2025, which focused on advances in construction technology, project delivery, social value and sustainability. Categories covered innovations in areas such as mechanised excavation, digital design and monitoring, and low‑carbon construction methods for complex underground works. For geotechnical and civil engineers, the awards signal where clients and contractors are now prioritising investment, particularly in data‑rich ground investigation, optimised lining design and reduced whole‑life carbon for major tunnel assets.

The National Underground Asset Register (Nuar), a government-backed digital map of buried pipes and cables, is expanding to target contractors with near real-time access to multi-utility asset data before excavation. The platform aggregates location information from water, gas, electricity and telecoms operators into a single online interface, replacing multiple separate searches and paper plans. For ground engineers and civils contractors, Nuar aims to cut service strikes and unplanned outages on streetworks and major schemes by providing faster, more accurate asset location snapshots at the planning and permit stages.

MinEx CRC is advancing several mineral exploration technologies in 2025, including coiled-tubing diamond drilling systems designed to cut metre-rate costs and in-field sensing tools that acquire continuous downhole geochemistry. Prototype rigs are targeting deeper cover sequences typical of Australian greenfields, using smaller footprints and reduced drilling fluids to minimise site disturbance and mobilisation time. For geoscientists and drill contractors, the work signals faster stratigraphic drilling, denser subsurface datasets, and potentially different design assumptions for access tracks, pads and water supply on remote programmes.

Gold prices set multiple all‑time highs in 2024 and the World Gold Council’s 2026 outlook points to continued support from central bank buying and persistent geopolitical risk. The WGC notes record official‑sector net purchases above typical pre‑2018 levels and resilient over‑the‑counter investment demand despite higher real yields. For miners, the outlook suggests sustained margins for existing operations but cautions that new greenfield gold projects will still face tight financing conditions and scrutiny on all‑in sustaining costs and jurisdictional risk.

Australian mining and METS companies will use Austmine’s 2025–26 international program to showcase technologies such as advanced drill automation, ore-sorting systems and mine ventilation optimisation to buyers in key markets including North America, Latin America and Asia. Delegations will be organised around major trade shows and site visits, giving suppliers of fleet management software, remote operations platforms and tailings monitoring systems direct access to Tier-1 miners and EPCMs. For engineers, this signals more export-ready Australian solutions in areas like haulage optimisation, underground communications and decarbonisation of diesel fleets.

Regulators have advised that Thames Water’s proposed £7bn Abingdon reservoir is sufficiently mature to move to the next development stage, unlocking further public funding for detailed design and assessment. The strategic storage scheme, intended to bolster long-term water supply resilience for London and the South East, will now undergo more advanced option appraisal and environmental scrutiny. However, regulators have questioned the scheme’s value-for-money case, signalling closer interrogation of cost assumptions, demand forecasts and alternative supply or demand-management options.

Record monsoon floods and landslides have killed more than 600 people across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, with Sri Lanka’s central highlands and Indonesia’s West Sumatra and South Sulawesi provinces suffering major slope failures. Prolonged rainfall well above seasonal averages has triggered debris flows, embankment breaches and riverbank collapses, overwhelming drainage canals and older flood defences in low-lying urban areas. Geotechnical teams are prioritising emergency slope stabilisation, rapid debris clearance on key highways and reassessment of design rainfall and factor-of-safety assumptions for cut slopes and retaining structures.

A catastrophic landslide in Afaahiti on Tahiti’s southeastern coast has killed at least eight people and left several missing after heavily saturated hillside slopes collapsed during intense rainfall. The failure involved a steep, previously vegetated slope above residential areas, with debris flows destroying multiple homes and blocking local roads that connect to the coastal ring route. Authorities are now assessing residual slope stability, potential for secondary failures, and the need for rapid drainage works, slope reinforcement and revised setback distances for hillside development.

GeoStudio 2025.2 adds a 3D Sweep Option that extrudes 2D geometries along user-defined paths, enabling faster setup of complex 3D embankments, tunnels and slopes without full re‑meshing. The release upgrades GeoStudio Python scripting with improved object access and automation of batch analyses, and expands language support to Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish. For practitioners, this means quicker parametric studies, easier integration with in‑house workflows, and wider deployment across multinational design teams.