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Gold miners extended their August rally on Thursday despite a rebound in long-term US Treasury yields, with the VanEck Gold Miners ETF up 2.3% by 12:40 p.m. ET as Agnico Eagle, Newmont and Barrick gained about 2–2.2% while spot gold eased near $4,509. The move came as the 30-year Treasury yield touched 5.27% before settling around 5.25%, even after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged to at least double long-bond buybacks above the planned $4 billion and promised a fiscal consolidation plan. With US public debt now above $40 trillion and the deficit near $2 trillion, miners are trading as leveraged plays on sustained bullion strength driven by fiscal and yield uncertainty rather than day-to-day gold price moves.

Government funding is reshaping mine finance as the US deploys nearly $2 billion in mixed instruments, including a $1.4 billion conditional loan to Sila, about $400 million to Sunrise Energy Metals, $150 million to Niron Magnetics and over $180 million for mining education. GEM Consulting’s comparative map shows the US using the widest blend of loans, equity, grants, purchase rights and stockpiles, versus Canada’s focus on infrastructure and equity, Australia’s output rights and inventories, the EU’s public credit and permitting coordination, and Japan’s offtake-linked overseas finance. The study warns that without clear disclosure of guarantees, repayments and recovered rights, and without demonstrable “additionality”, public capital risks displacing private funding while expanding state strategic control over critical-mineral projects.

The Gitxsan Huwilp government has unanimously rescinded its support for Seabridge Gold’s KSM project in northwestern British Columbia, aligning with the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation (TSKLH) after a June 2026 B.C. Supreme Court ruling found the province breached its constitutional duty to consult TSKLH. KSM, located 65 km northwest of Stewart and scoped in a 2022 PFS at 47.3 million oz of gold and 7.3 billion lb of copper with an NPV of about C$8 billion, now faces renewed uncertainty over tailings and toxic waste risks. TSKLH cites threats to the Nass and Unuk river sheds, which support Pacific salmon and eulachon, and is demanding “true consultation” and shared decision-making.

Lassonde-backed Cadillac Mines reports infill drilling at the Kerr-Addison project in Ontario, with standout hole KAD26-428T cutting 23 m at 3.08 g/t gold from 259 m, including 6.4 m at 5.26 g/t, and KAD26-397 returning 38 m at 2.13 g/t from 192 m, supporting a larger open-pit resource case. The company is about two-thirds through a 17,850 m infill programme within the current pit shell, part of a 145,000 m, C$65 million 2026 drilling budget using 11 diamond rigs. Kerr-Addison currently hosts 78.5 Mt indicated at 1.34 g/t (3.38 Moz) and 25.9 Mt inferred at 2.66 g/t (2.21 Moz), with new drilling targeting lesser-tested footwall zones and step-outs northeast of existing blocks.

An initial mineral resource at American Tungsten’s Ima project in northeast Idaho defines 316,000 indicated tonnes at 0.55% WO₃ (1,747 tonnes WO₃) plus 404,000 oz silver, and 2.1 million inferred tonnes at 0.55% WO₃ containing 11,933 tonnes WO₃ and 1.8 million oz silver, making it Idaho’s highest-grade primary tungsten project. The estimate also includes 267,000 tonnes of historical surface tailings at 0.15% WO₃ (413 tonnes WO₃), supporting a Phase I tailings processing route alongside Phase II underground drilling, rehabilitation and restart planning. Based on 5,180 metres of recent drilling and historical data, the resource underpins work towards a preliminary economic assessment and positions Ima as a potential U.S. tungsten supply source amid Chinese export controls.

BHP and MIT spinout SiTration are piloting a chemical-free copper recovery technology at the historic Copper Cities mine in Arizona, targeting legacy mining water in a pit lake at a site that produced nearly 400,000 tonnes of copper between the 1950s and early 1980s. An initial one‑month pilot will validate continuous, autonomous production, followed by a larger two‑month deployment aiming to produce up to 2 tonnes of LME Grade A copper cathode. Bench tests using real site feedstock report sub‑3–4 kWh/kg energy use with no new waste streams, signalling potential low‑cost recovery from mining‑impacted waters across the US Southwest.

Metso has secured orders from GR Engineering Services to supply key minerals processing technology for Develop Global’s Yitirrti copper-zinc-silver project in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The package includes crushing and grinding equipment and downstream process units for a new concentrator designed for moderate-scale copper-zinc-silver throughput, with flowsheet engineering led by GRES. For engineers, the deal signals continued preference for Metso’s integrated comminution and separation solutions on greenfield base metals plants in Western Australia’s hard-rock conditions.

SiTration and BHP have launched two pilot deployments at the historic Copper Cities site in Arizona’s Globe-Miami district to trial SiTration’s copper valorisation technology on legacy material. The programme starts this month with a small-scale pilot focused on validating continuous, autonomous copper production, targeting low-grade or previously uneconomic resources. If successful, the approach could offer a route to recover additional copper from historic waste streams at similar brownfield sites without major new excavation.

Martin Engineering is promoting engineered solutions for silo, hopper and chute blockages to replace manual methods such as vessel entry and hammering walls, which expose workers to falls, engulfment and impact. The company typically applies external flow aids like air cannons, high-frequency vibrators and retrofit liners on chutes and spouts to break compacted material bridges and rat-holes without confined-space entry. For mine operators, the approach targets reduced unplanned downtime on conveyors and storage vessels while tightening compliance with lockout/tagout and confined-space regulations.

Sunward is reporting strong growth for its top hammer rock drilling rigs in South Africa, driven by customised R&D for local mining conditions and part of a wider push into Africa and the Americas from its Changsha base. The company is tailoring rig configurations, drilling parameters and component selection to specific orebody, bench and fragmentation requirements rather than exporting standard Chinese domestic models. For mine operators, this signals more competition in the mid-range top hammer segment and potentially lower lifecycle costs for hard rock production drilling fleets.

The Northern Territory Government has let a $12.95 million contract for major flood restoration on the 561‑kilometre Sandover Highway, a key livestock and freight link between the Plenty Highway and Camooweal that was heavily damaged by Tropical Cyclone Megan in March 2024. Works will focus on repairing washed‑out pavement, reinstating flood‑damaged drainage and restoring all‑weather access along long, low‑lying sections. Geotechnical and pavement design will need to address recurrent flooding, weak subgrades and extended construction logistics in a remote arid corridor.

Queensland has released the full Gold Coast Transport Plan, centred on Stage Two of the Coomera Connector between Pimpana and Coomera, major Pacific Motorway (M1) interchange upgrades, and duplication of the Jabiru Island bridge. The Coomera Connector works will add a parallel north–south arterial to relieve M1 congestion, requiring new bridge structures, floodplain embankments and soft-ground treatments along the Coomera River corridor. Jabiru Island bridge duplication will increase lane capacity and load redundancy, with implications for marine piling, scour protection and long-term durability in a saline estuarine environment.

Works on Victoria’s Bulleen Road interchange have passed the halfway mark after a “mega lift” installed nine large precast beams for the elevated ramp linking the North East Link tunnel to the Eastern Freeway towards Melbourne. This was the third mega lift in 2026, forming a key structural segment of the new grade-separated connection designed to remove weaving movements at the current Bulleen Road–Eastern Freeway interface. Contractors now shift to completing remaining ramp spans, deck works and tie-ins ahead of tunnel commissioning.

Plans to upgrade the M3 at Junction 9 near Winchester have expanded from a basic capacity scheme into one of National Highways’ most complex projects, combining free‑flow links between the M3 and A34 with major reconfiguration of the existing dumbbell junction. Designers must thread new high‑level and low‑level structures between the River Itchen, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the South Downs National Park, while maintaining three live lanes of traffic in each direction. The scheme demands extensive groundwater management, habitat creation and phased bridge construction to control settlement and protect chalk aquifer flows.

Scrutiny of the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement by the Transport Committee has drawn criticism from multiple bodies over the absence of firm commitments to new rail links serving a third runway. Stakeholders argue that without guaranteed delivery of schemes such as Western Rail Link to Heathrow and potential Southern Access routes, surface access capacity and mode-share targets cannot be credibly met. The challenge centres on who funds and delivers these heavy rail connections and how they are secured in the Development Consent Order process.

AtkinsRéalis has secured places on six of the seven lots in Transport for London’s new Professional Services Framework (PSF3), positioning it for multidisciplinary design, engineering and project management commissions across the capital’s rail, road and station assets. The framework will cover complex works on deep tube tunnels, surface rail corridors, bridges and highway structures, as well as systems engineering for signalling, power and control upgrades. For geotechnical and civil teams, this signals a strong pipeline of TfL renewals and capacity projects where early-stage ground modelling, asset condition assessment and constructability input will be critical.

The UK’s 2030 target for at least 95% of electricity generation from clean sources hinges on rapidly overhauling the transmission and distribution grid rather than generation capacity alone. Delivering this requires accelerated consenting for new 400kV corridors, large-scale reinforcement of existing 132kV and 275kV networks, and coordinated connection of offshore wind, solar and storage. For civil and geotechnical engineers, the main risks are programme delay and cost escalation from slow approvals, wayleave disputes and substation and cable route design changes late in the process.

Gleeds has been appointed as one of six suppliers on Anglian Water’s new multi-million-pound Client-Side Commercial Assurance Services framework, covering commercial oversight of major water and wastewater capital works. The framework will support programme-level cost assurance, contract administration and risk management across AMP8 schemes, where individual projects routinely involve complex civils, deep excavations and large-diameter trunk mains. For contractors and designers, this signals tighter scrutiny of NEC contract performance, cost benchmarking and value engineering on Anglian’s future infrastructure portfolio.

Terra Metals has extended the main sulphide corridor at its Southwest PGM–copper–nickel discovery in Western Australia by 150m to more than 1.1km, following diamond drill hole SWDD017 pushing the interpreted northern limit of mineralisation. The corridor forms part of the broader Dante project and the step-out represents roughly a 15 per cent strike increase, materially enlarging the potential resource footprint. For mine planners and geotechnical teams, the longer continuous sulphide zone supports larger-scale underground or bulk open-pit scenarios, subject to grade continuity and geometry.

Solstice Minerals has drilled a 148m copper–gold intercept at its Nanadie project in Western Australia’s Goldfields, with most of the higher-grade zone lying outside the current mineral resource boundary. The combined RC and diamond hole NANRCD018 returned 0.77 per cent copper and 0.20g/t gold over the full interval, pointing to a broader mineralised envelope than previously modelled. For resource geologists and mine planners, the result suggests potential for both lateral extensions and higher-grade shoot definition beyond existing pit-shell assumptions.

KGL Resources has awarded Northern Transportables an approximately $36 million contract to design, manufacture, transport, install and commission a 180-person accommodation village and mine infrastructure buildings for the Jervois copper project in the Northern Territory. The scope covers modular units and associated support facilities, signalling a move from early works into full site establishment as development accelerates. For project planners and contractors, the package locks in camp capacity and key non-process infrastructure ahead of major earthworks and underground development.

More than 200 Unite members at Urenco’s Capenhurst uranium enrichment plant in Cheshire have voted for strike action in a pay dispute, threatening disruption to one of the UK’s key nuclear fuel facilities. The site handles enrichment of uranium hexafluoride for nuclear power stations, so prolonged stoppages could affect maintenance schedules, safety-critical support services and future fuel supply planning. Civil and nuclear engineers involved in plant upgrades, decommissioning interfaces and regulatory inspections may face programme delays and resourcing uncertainty if strikes proceed.

AtkinsRéalis, Sellafield Ltd and Igloo Vision have installed a 360° immersive visualisation suite at the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (RAICo1) facility in West Cumbria to plan complex nuclear decommissioning tasks. The dome-style environment allows engineers to rehearse remote handling, crane lifts and waste routeing at full scale using site laser scans and BIM models, before work starts in high-radiation cells. This setup is expected to de-risk sequencing, clash detection and access planning on legacy Sellafield structures where physical mock-ups would be costly or impractical.

Devon County Council has let a £1.29M contract, including VAT, for highway stabilisation works at the A377 Weirmarsh slip, a known failure point on this key Barnstaple–Exeter route. The scheme is expected to involve ground stabilisation and slope support to address ongoing embankment movement affecting the carriageway formation. Contractors and designers will need to manage works under live traffic on a constrained rural corridor, with careful control of groundwater and temporary works to maintain slope stability during construction.