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Lynas Rare Earths’ June quarter revenue climbed 70 per cent year-on-year to $288.9 million, its strongest result in almost four years, driven by record rare earth prices and demand from customers seeking supply outside China. Production at the Mt Weld operation in Western Australia reached 3,481 tonnes of rare earth oxide for the quarter, underpinning higher sales volumes. The result signals continued tightness in ex-China supply chains, with pricing strength likely to influence mine planning, beneficiation throughput targets and downstream separation capacity over FY26.

Aurelia Metals has exceeded its upgraded FY26 guidance, producing 50.4koz of gold against a 45–50koz range and delivering its strongest quarterly operating cash flow since 2018 on the back of a robust June quarter and higher gold prices. Copper output reached 2.5kt, providing additional by-product credits that support unit costs at its New South Wales operations. The result signals improved mine performance and cash generation capacity ahead of any further capital decisions on life extension or project development.

Queensland Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Resources and Critical Minerals Bryson Head has urged miners at the Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition in Mackay to “take back the narrative” by actively promoting the sector’s economic and social role. Head linked mining with agriculture as twin pillars of regional Queensland, arguing that royalties, local jobs and supply-chain spending are being overlooked in public debate. For operators, the message signals growing political expectation for clearer communication on project benefits, community engagement and the role of critical minerals in the state’s economy.

Newport City Council has issued a £2.7M procurement for a solar farm and battery energy storage system at the capped Docks Way Landfill Site in Newport, South Wales, aiming to convert the former waste facility into a grid-connected renewable energy asset. The design-and-build contract will need to address foundation detailing on landfill cover, settlement behaviour and gas management, as well as integrating the BESS with local distribution network constraints. Civil and geotechnical bidders will be expected to manage construction over waste, including differential settlement and leachate control.

Jacobs has been appointed by Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE‑N) to deliver planning and consenting services for the UK’s proposed fleet of small modular reactors, a core step before site investigation, grid connection design and nuclear licensing can proceed. The commission will cover environmental impact assessment, Development Consent Order documentation and stakeholder consultation, integrating SMR layouts, cooling water demands and construction logistics into statutory planning submissions. For civil and geotechnical teams, the work will frame ground investigation scope, foundation concepts and seismic qualification requirements at candidate SMR sites.

DMC Mining Services Chile has fired its first blast under a new lateral development contract at Lundin Mining’s Minera Candelaria copper-gold operation in Chile, marking the operational start of a major project for KGHM’s international contracting arm. The work focuses on underground lateral development to open additional ore headings and improve access to existing stopes, supporting Candelaria’s long-life block and panel caving plans. For geotechnical and mine planning teams, the contract signals sustained demand for high-precision development, ground support installation and sequencing in a mature, deepening orebody.

Rajant Corporation and Epiroc Mexico have formed a strategic partnership to supply deployment-ready Kinetic Mesh® wireless networks integrated with Epiroc mining equipment across large open-pit operations in Mexico. The collaboration targets more reliable, high-bandwidth connectivity for mobile fleets, drilling rigs and autonomous or teleremote systems, with scope to extend the solution into Epiroc’s global mining portfolio. For engineers, this signals tighter coupling between OEM equipment and mine-wide mesh backbones, simplifying brownfield network upgrades and supporting higher data rates for real-time monitoring and control.

Komatsu Indonesia has launched the HW70 wide body mining truck in partnership with dealer United Tractors, targeting markets such as Brazil, South Africa, Central Asia and Indonesia where wide bodies are displacing smaller rigid trucks and ADTs on cost. The HW70 is positioned as a lower-CAPEX haul option with simplified maintenance and compatibility with proven new-energy powertrains, rather than experimental systems. For mine planners and contractors, the move signals wider OEM backing for wide body fleets on short- to medium-haul routes and overburden stripping.

NOVAGOLD will acquire Paulson Advisors’ remaining stake in the Donlin Gold project in southwest Alaska in an all‑stock deal, creating NovaGold Corporation, a Delaware‑incorporated US gold miner valued at about $4.2 billion. The transaction consolidates ownership of Donlin, which hosts roughly 40 million measured and indicated ounces at 2.22 g/t and is designed for about 1.1 million ounces per year over a 27‑year mine life, rising to 1.3 million ounces in the first decade. NOVAGOLD shareholders will own nearly 65% of the new company, with Paulson locked up on its c.35% stake until project financing or year three.

Coeur Mining has doubled its 2026 Mexico exploration budget to US$158 million, funding 202 km of drilling split between Palmarejo in Chihuahua (US$27 million, 83 km) and Las Chispas in Sonora (US$24 million, 119 km), and lifting its five‑year spend in the country to about US$340 million. Key intercepts include 11.5 m at 6.9 g/t Au and 1,250 g/t Ag from 274 m at Palmarejo’s San Miguel (SMDH‑138) and 9.1 m at 16.5 g/t Au and 206 g/t Ag from 473 m at Independencia Sur (VIDH‑221), with San Miguel and La Union remaining open in all directions. Palmarejo and Las Chispas together produced 11.6 million oz silver and 156,000 oz gold last year, and Scotia Capital’s Eric Winmill sees Palmarejo’s Eastern District as a longer‑term production front with Independencia Sur offering nearer‑term reserve additions.

Lundin Gold has identified two additional porphyry systems, Sandia Northeast and Sandia Southeast, taking the total number of porphyry centres near its Fruta del Norte mine in Ecuador to seven and extending a roughly 5 km mineralised corridor beside the existing high-grade epithermal operation. The Sandia discovery, first outlined in 2025, now has an interpreted footprint of about 1.6 km by 700 metres and 1 km deep, with Jefferies suggesting it could host 500 million to one billion tonnes and remains open to the north, east and at depth. A maiden resource for Sandia is targeted for early 2027, with analysts suggesting a large bulk-tonnage operation here could potentially double Fruta del Norte’s current 475,000–525,000 oz/y gold output within about five years.

Costa Rica’s President Laura Fernández is pushing Bill 24.717 to reopen the Crucitas gold deposit by allowing metallic mining only within the 84,800-hectare Cutris de San Carlos district, while keeping the national open-pit metal mining ban elsewhere. The bill proposes public auctions run by the Directorate of Geology and Mines, minimum 5% gross-sales royalties and strict technical, financial and environmental pre-qualification, aiming to displace mercury- and cyanide-based illegal mining. Analysts warn that investor interest will hinge less on Crucitas’ mid-sized geology and more on territorial control, gold traceability and long-term ESG and legal stability.

Lithium carbonate futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange fell 4.95% on Tuesday to 144,000 yuan/t, nearly 30% below May’s two-year high above 200,000 yuan/t, as restarts at CATL’s 46,000 t/y Jianxiawo mine and Australian operations Bald Hill, Finniss and Mt Marion raised fears of oversupply through 2027. Beijing is simultaneously pushing Guangzhou as a global pricing hub by opening lithium contracts to overseas traders and planning a lithium hydroxide future, while China’s battery output hit 191.7 GWh in May, up more than 55% year-on-year. Washington’s DLA has entered the market with a tender for 16,000 t of battery-grade lithium carbonate over five years at about $18,500/t, but the volume equates to only a few days of global consumption.

Hochschild Mining is holding its 2026 production guidance of 300,000–328,000 gold-equivalent ounces after Q2 attributable output reached 76,231 oz, taking H1 production to 151,830 oz, despite all-in sustaining costs running 5–10% above the $2,157–$2,320/oz guidance range. CEO Eduardo Landin cited stronger operating cash flow from the Inmaculada and San Jose underground mines and early gains at Mara Rosa in Brazil, where a new mining contractor, shorter haulage distances and improved plant stability are central to the turnaround. The company ended June with about $309 million in cash and short-term investments and a net cash position of roughly $51 million, while preparing a revised EIA for the Royropata project in Peru and an H2 2026 investment decision on Monte Do Carmo in Brazil.

Gold and silver prices jumped as the US–Iran conflict spread to a second key maritime chokepoint, pushing investors into safe-haven metals despite the highest long-term US borrowing costs in years. Traders moved back into bullion even as 10-year US Treasury yields remain near multi-year highs, a backdrop that typically pressures non-yielding assets. The shift signals that geopolitical risk premia are currently outweighing interest-rate headwinds in precious metals markets, with knock-on implications for mine hedging strategies and project financing assumptions.

New Pacific Metals has updated the PEA for its Carangas silver-gold-zinc-lead project in Bolivia, outlining a 19-year life of mine (plus two years’ pre-production) with total output of 195 Moz payable silver, 1.1 Moz gold, 1,453 Mlb zinc and 941 Mlb lead (339 Moz AgEq). The study gives a post-tax NPV of $3.23 billion and IRR of 37.0% at $5,100/oz gold, with initial capex of $644.5 million, LOM capex of $1.2 billion and a 2.4-year payback. Average AISC is $18.25/oz AgEq, with silver-dominant production of 15.5 Moz/year in years 1–8 before transitioning to 7.6 Moz Ag and 142.7 koz Au per year in years 9–16.

Nth Cycle will go public via a merger with SPAC Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. VI (NYSE: KCAC), valuing the critical minerals refiner at $585 million and targeting up to $330 million in gross proceeds from Kensington’s trust and a common stock PIPE. The combined entity, Nth Cycle Holdings, Inc., will trade on the NYSE under ticker “NTH” and scale its modular ‘Oyster’ electro-extraction units, which selectively recover nickel, cobalt, rare earths, copper and other battery metals from scrap, end-of-life batteries and mined rock. A previously signed 10-year, approximately $1.1 billion offtake agreement with Trafigura underpins commercial deployment.

ICMM’s new global dataset of 12,000 mining and metals facilities across 148 countries shows 65.7% operate in areas with significant physical water risk, with 38.2% in catchments of high baseline water stress, 27% exposed to high drought risk and 14% to high flood risk. Exposure is highly uneven, with 85.8% of Chilean facilities in high-stress catchments and similarly elevated levels in Africa and the Middle East. ICMM warns that poorly understood water risk could constrain water-intensive processes such as crushing, flotation, leaching and tailings management, tightening supply for the energy transition.

Nearly two-thirds of global mining and metals facilities are sited in areas of significant physical water risk, according to ICMM’s new Global Mining and Metals Water Dataset. The analysis also finds that competition for water between mine sites and other industrial and domestic users is the dominant physical risk driver, rather than solely hydrological scarcity. For geotechnical and processing teams, this points to tighter constraints on dewatering, tailings water balances and make-up water allocations, with permitting and community relations becoming critical design inputs.

Applied Intuition has launched Dana, an agentic platform for building, testing, deploying and operating physical AI systems, targeting applications such as autonomous haulage, drilling automation and robotic inspection in mines. The platform combines agentic AI with the company’s existing simulation, scenario generation and validation toolchain, allowing developers to iterate control policies and perception models in software before field deployment. For mine operators and OEMs, Dana is positioned to shorten integration cycles between virtual testing and on-site commissioning of AI-enabled mobile equipment and fixed-plant robotics.

Wesfarmers and SQM have jointly approved a final investment decision to expand the Mt Holland lithium project in Western Australia, adding a new integrated ore sorting facility alongside the existing mine and concentrator. The project, operated by Covalent Lithium, will double spodumene concentrate output and is expected to materially reduce unit operating costs while accelerating cash flow from the operation. For mine planners and process engineers, the key change is the upstream ore sorting step, which should improve feed grade and reduce downstream milling and flotation load.

Komatsu is running a full-scale proof-of-concept of its MC51 hard-rock continuous miner at Niobec’s underground niobium operation in Québec, using the DynaCut mechanical cutting system instead of drill-and-blast. The MC51 integrates continuous mechanical excavation with precise profiling to reduce overbreak, improve ground control and cut energy use per tonne, while enabling more consistent tunnel cross-sections for services and ventilation. For engineers, the trial will provide real production, wear and fragmentation data to benchmark mechanical cutting against conventional development in competent hard rock.

Geology-led geometallurgical modelling is being used to predict ore behaviour beyond grade by integrating limited metallurgical testwork with geological domains to estimate recovery, hardness, deleterious elements and mineralogical variability at block-model scale. Tools such as Datamine’s Studio RM and Maptek’s Vulcan are combining drillhole assays, mineralogy and comminution indices (e.g. Bond ball mill work index) to generate 3D models of processing performance rather than just metal grade. For mine planners and process engineers, this enables earlier circuit design decisions, more realistic throughput forecasts and domain-specific blending strategies.

AIC Mines has appointed Clint Donkin, Glencore’s former head of copper for its Africa region and ex-chief technology officer for copper, as managing director and CEO of its North Queensland copper operations from 31 October. Donkin’s background includes overseeing multiple African copper assets and joint ventures within Glencore’s portfolio, giving him deep experience in large-scale sulphide operations, brownfield expansions and complex processing flowsheets. The move signals AIC’s intent to leverage tier-one copper operational and technology expertise as it advances production and potential growth projects in the region.