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CEA has secured national distribution rights for SANY excavators in Australia, starting with operations in Queensland and expanding across its existing dealer network. The deal brings SANY’s large hydraulic excavator range – including mining-class units above 50 tonnes with high breakout forces and fuel-efficient Stage V-compliant engines – into CEA’s portfolio alongside JCB and Atlas Copco equipment. For mine operators, the move increases competition in the heavy excavator market and may simplify fleet support through integrated parts, service and telematics across mixed-brand earthmoving fleets.

Cyprium Metals has identified new copper targets at its Paterson exploration project in Western Australia after completing a first‑pass review of historical and recent geophysical and geochemical data. The company is focusing on intrusive‑related and sediment‑hosted copper systems typical of the Paterson Province, using reprocessed airborne EM, gravity and magnetics to refine drill priorities around existing prospects such as Nifty and Maroochydore. For geologists and mine planners, the work signals potential for deeper, structurally controlled mineralisation that may require directional drilling and careful hydrogeological assessment.

Positive early exploration results from Northern Minerals’ Browns Range heavy rare earths project in Western Australia point to promising mineralisation at the Vulcan prospect and several satellite targets. Recent field programmes, including detailed mapping and infill drilling across the Browns Range tenements, have confirmed extensions of dysprosium- and terbium-rich mineral systems similar to those feeding the existing pilot plant. The results support potential resource growth around the current mine footprint, with implications for future pit design, geotechnical characterisation of new lodes and longer-term processing throughput planning.

Glencore’s 2025 copper production fell 11% to 851,600 tonnes, at the low end of guidance, as weaker grades and operational constraints hit assets including its 44%‑owned Collahuasi mine in Chile, where 2026 output is further capped by water limits and guidance has been cut to 810,000–870,000 tonnes from a previous 930,000‑tonne forecast. Quarter‑on‑quarter copper output rose 12% to 268,000 tonnes in Q4, while metallurgical coal missed BMO’s target by 6% and thermal coal exceeded it by 7%. Market focus now centres on a potential all‑share Rio Tinto takeover bid by 5 February, aimed largely at securing Glencore’s copper portfolio.

Chile has released a National Critical Minerals Strategy that classifies 14 minerals into three groups, with copper, lithium, molybdenum and rhenium in “category A”, where Chile already supplies 23%, 20.4%, 14.6% and 46.8% of global output respectively. Consultants note category A growth will mainly come from brownfield expansions, while new streams such as cobalt, rare earths, selenium and tellurium will require greenfield social and environmental approvals and stronger state capacity. Lawyers and analysts stress the strategy is not law, lacks concrete near-term production commitments for minerals like cobalt and rare earths, and its impact will hinge on a forthcoming action plan, permitting performance and institutional execution.

Uranium prices are forecast by Abu Dhabi-based Teniz Capital to enter a “long-duration structural bull market”, with a 3–4x price increase possible as primary mine output covers only 74–90% of current reactor demand and secondary inventories are largely exhausted. The bank projects uranium demand to rise 28% by 2030 and double by 2040, with new mines needing 10–15 years to come online, making the 2030s supply deficit effectively “programmed”. Kazatomprom, supplying about 39–43% of global production and controlling most ISR-suitable reserves, is identified as a systemically critical, low-cost producer with no comparable alternative this side of 2045.

Gold prices swung violently on Thursday, spiking to a record $5,594.34/oz before plunging 6% to around $5,100 and then recovering to above $5,300, still more than 1% lower on the day. Silver dropped over 6% and copper surrendered most of its gains as investors sold bullion to cover losses elsewhere, with gold having already risen about 25% in the first four weeks of 2026, its strongest monthly run in over 50 years. Analysts from Blue Line Futures, Julius Baer and ING flagged “peak euphoria”, flow‑driven trading and gold’s shift from safe haven to liquidity source as key drivers.

Gold prices near $5,600/oz after breaching the $5,000 mark this week, with JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou modelling a scenario where the metal reaches $8,000/oz by 2030. The bank’s upside case assumes private investors raise gold allocations from about 3% to 4.6% of portfolios, implying more than 40% further price appreciation. Goldman Sachs has already lifted its 2026 year-end target to $5,400/oz, while World Gold Council data show record 2025 demand driven by geopolitical risk and US dollar concerns.

McEwen Inc. has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Golden Lake Exploration via a plan of arrangement, consolidating the Jewel Ridge and Jewel Ridge West projects into its Gold Bar Mine Complex in Nevada’s Eureka district. Jewel Ridge historical drilling includes 2.20 g/t Au over 28.96 m, 1.24 g/t Au over 56.39 m and 2.37 g/t Au over 67.57 m, north of McEwen’s Windfall hole grading 5.55 g/t Au over 44.2 m. Each Golden Lake share will convert to 0.003876 McEwen shares (implied C$0.12), sending Golden Lake up 66.7% while McEwen fell 5.7%.

Cyclic Materials is investing more than $82 million in a rare earth recycling campus at McBee, South Carolina, combining a Spoke facility initially able to process 2,000 tonnes of magnet material per year (ramping to 6,000 tonnes) with a Hub using its proprietary MagCycle and REEPure separation processes. The site will start with capacity for 600 tonnes of mixed rare earth oxides annually, targeting 1,800 tonnes MREO, equivalent to material for about 6 million hybrid transmissions per year, with operations slated for 2028 and over 90 skilled jobs. Feedstock will include 100% of magnet swarf from VACUUMSCHMELZE’s new Sumter plant, positioning the state as a US hub for rare earth magnet recycling and onshored heavy REE supply.

Ten employees from Vizsla Silver’s Panuco silver-gold project near Concordia, Sinaloa, were abducted on 23 January after armed men entered on-site staff accommodations and seized engineers, geologists, security staff and administrators. The Vancouver-based company has suspended operations and activated crisis-management measures while Mexican state and federal authorities conduct search operations led by Sinaloa’s attorney general’s office. The incident, amid escalating clashes between rival Sinaloa cartel factions, reinforces the need for mine operators in northern Mexico to reassess camp security design, travel protocols and contractor exposure.

Rocket Rentals has ordered more than 55 new JCB machines, including 35 zero tailswing excavators spanning from 1‑tonne minis up to the new 15‑tonne 145XR models, to meet rising demand on constrained construction, civils and infrastructure sites. The Gloucester-based hirer is standardising on JCB 145XR, 90Z‑2, 50Z‑2 and 25Z‑1 excavators plus Loadall telehandlers and X Series tracked excavators to maximise slew clearance and reduce strike risk near live services and traffic. The deal also adds JCB’s new CT430 140 tandem roller, specified for high compaction performance on both asphalt and aggregate layers.

Birmingham City Council has awarded Wates Property Services, Equans and Mears a 10‑year repair and maintenance framework covering about 60,000 council homes, with Wates handling 30,000 units, Equans 17,000 in the east and Mears 11,500 in central and west Birmingham. Wates’ package is valued at £1.1bn and Mears’ at £450m, with an option to extend all contracts by five years. The council plans to invest more than £200m a year in planned works, including kitchen and bathroom renewals and energy‑efficiency upgrades to cut heating bills.

SJ Roberts Construction has secured a £10m contract from Powys County Council to build the new 1,650 sqm Brynllywarch Hall SEN and alternative provision school in Kerry, adjacent to the existing outdated facility. Work is scheduled to start in spring 2026 with an 18‑month programme targeting opening in autumn 2027. Lowfield Timber Frames will design and erect the timber frame, with solar PV, air source heat pumps and mechanical ventilation heat recovery specified to deliver net zero carbon in operation.

Builders Merchants Federation is restructuring its leadership after 44% membership growth since 2020, now representing 1,020 merchant, supplier and service firms across the UK and Ireland. Chief executive John Newcomb will become executive chairman by 1 October 2026, retaining his Construction Leadership Council seat and chairing a new strategic development board, while a new CEO will handle internal operations. Under outgoing chairman Richard Hill, BMF absorbed the Institute of Builders Merchants, launched the BMCareers programme, adopted the ETIM product data standard and, with NMBS, created the Data Yard industry data pool.

Royal Bam Group has agreed to acquire Dutch housebuilder Gebroeders Blokland, gaining land and building rights for about 2,400 homes in suburban locations across the south and centre of the Netherlands. Gebroeders Blokland, which will continue to operate independently under its own name, reported 2025 revenue of €95m and EBITDA of €10m, and will lift Bam’s annual residential development potential by roughly 10%. The deal, subject to Dutch competition and regulatory approval, strengthens Bam’s pipeline for sustainable and affordable housing schemes.

Aecom has appointed Ivan Chindurza as head of renewables for Europe, tasking him with expanding the consultancy’s renewable generation and storage business across the region from his base in Scotland. Chindurza joins from Mott MacDonald, where he spent 15 years and was operations director for its energy generation division, having started in renewables in 2007 with SgurrEnergy (now Wood Group). The role will focus on projects constrained by grid connection delays, supply chain volatility and rising electricity demand from EVs, heat pumps, industrial electrification and data centres.

Bowmer & Kirkland has been confirmed as main contractor for the £274m Castle Leazes redevelopment in Newcastle upon Tyne, replacing the original 1960s 1,250-bed blocks with 2,009 new student rooms in two- to nine-storey buildings designed by Norr Architectural. Main works can now start after Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator, Bowmer & Kirkland’s third such approval in six months, following enabling and demolition works that began in June 2024. Phase one will deliver 788 beds for the 2028/29 academic year, with the remainder completed for 2029/30.

Zed Pods has secured a £4m contract to deliver 12 self-contained modular units for Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council on the former Blue Bell Hill car park near Aylesford, providing temporary accommodation for homeless families. The steel-framed, energy-efficient homes will be factory-built in Peterborough and transported to site for rapid assembly, with off-site construction starting this spring, on-site works in summer, and completion targeted for spring 2027. For project teams, key issues will include transport logistics, foundation design for a former car park, and service integration for a compact brownfield scheme.

Tier one UK contractors planning to mandate secondary guarding on mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) from January 2026 are being cautioned by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) against treating such systems as a stand‑alone control. IPAF notes there is currently no ISO performance standard for secondary guarding, no single system that covers all entrapment scenarios, and inconsistent project specifications creating conflicting demands for OEMs and rental fleets. The federation stresses task‑specific risk assessment, correct MEWP selection, operator training and competent supervision remain the primary controls, especially when working beneath steelwork, in congested areas or while elevating and slewing near structures.

New research commissioned as the UK Government advances plans for new towns and large housing allocations is targeting decarbonisation of masterplanned enabling infrastructure such as primary roads, utilities corridors and strategic drainage. The work is expected to develop consistent methods for whole‑life carbon assessment at the outline planning stage, integrating embodied carbon from bulk earthworks, pavements and buried services with operational emissions from transport and energy networks. For civil and geotechnical teams, this signals earlier carbon optioneering on alignments, ground treatment strategies and materials selection before detailed design budgets are set.

Major works on the Transpennine Route Upgrade at Ravensthorpe in West Yorkshire are advancing, with engineers reporting substantial progress on the new multi-platform Ravensthorpe station, a replacement Calder Road bridge and the Baker Viaduct. The Calder Road bridge is being rebuilt to span the widened rail corridor and accommodate future electrification clearances, while Baker Viaduct works focus on strengthening and reconfiguration to carry additional tracks. Together, the structures form a key bottleneck removal on the Leeds–Huddersfield section, enabling higher line capacity and more resilient operations.

Geoprofessionals worldwide now spend over 25% of their time on data management, with Seequent’s 7th Geoprofessionals Data Management Report finding mining specialists at nearly one‑third and civil engineers at over one‑fifth, yet only 39% of mining organisations and 41% of civil teams have defined data frameworks. The survey of 1,000+ respondents shows 80% of mining and 69% of civil practitioners rate data management as highly or critically important, but many still lack a centralised “single source of truth”. AI adoption is accelerating, with 51% of organisations using or considering AI, up from 30% in two years, signalling strong demand for better-structured subsurface and historical datasets.

Normet has launched the Scamec LC 065 A, a compact, purpose-built underground scaling machine using the same robust carrier platform as its existing Scamec models. The LC 065 A introduces the most compact boom in the Scamec range, engineered for agile operation and optimised coverage in 4 m x 4 m headings, targeting narrow-vein and confined development drives. The design focuses on improved operator visibility and controlled mechanical scaling, reducing exposure compared with manual bar scaling in small-profile tunnels.