Geomechanics.io

Hitachi Energy has secured a €770M (£664M) contract from Terna and STEG to design and build two converter stations for the first high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnection between Italy and Tunisia. The scheme will use voltage source converter technology to link the Italian and Tunisian transmission grids, enabling controllable power flows between the two synchronous areas. Civil and geotechnical packages will need to accommodate large converter halls, high electromagnetic loading, and complex earthing systems at both coastal sites.

The Government Commercial Agency has launched a £4.2bn, four-year cross-government framework for construction professional and advisory services, open to central departments, local authorities and wider public sector clients. The framework is intended to streamline procurement of multidisciplinary design, project management, cost consultancy and technical advisory support for major infrastructure, building and regeneration programmes. Civil and geotechnical engineers can expect more standardised scopes, repeatable NEC-based call-off contracts and stronger pipelines for public sector workload across transport, flood, education and health projects.

Record June temperatures across the UK are driving peak water demand, forcing utilities to increase treated water output and deploy extra network teams to maintain pressure in trunk mains and service reservoirs. Companies are running additional boreholes and treatment works where licensed, using tanker support to reinforce low‑margin distribution zones, and closely monitoring critical nodes via SCADA to avoid localised outages. Engineers are being asked to minimise non-essential site water use, delay high-demand activities such as mains flushing where possible, and prepare contingency plans for further heat events this summer.

Covalent Lithium has appointed Stuart Macnaughton as incoming chief executive to steer the ramp-up of its integrated Western Australian lithium operations, with Macnaughton joining on 1 July and succeeding retiring CEO Ross Martelli at year’s end. The leadership change comes as the company advances its mine-to-hydroxide strategy at Mt Holland and Kwinana, positioning for higher spodumene output and downstream lithium hydroxide production. For engineers, the transition signals continuity of capital deployment into processing infrastructure and associated tailings, water and energy systems across the integrated project.

Exploration activity is ramping up across Western Australia as S2 Resources prepares its first drilling program at the Jillewarra gold project in the Murchison, while Lefroy Exploration advances metallurgical testwork and resource growth at its Goldfields assets. Rincon Resources is simultaneously expanding copper–gold drilling in the Pilbara, targeting extensions to existing mineralised zones rather than pure greenfields step-out. For geotechs and mine planners, the cluster of early-stage drilling, metallurgy and resource definition signals a strengthening pipeline of potential open-pit and underground projects in key WA belts.

Dredging contractor Jan De Nul Australia has secured a $50 million Western Australia Government-backed contract from Pilbara Ports to construct the new Zone 5 Bypass Channel at Port Hedland. The channel is designed to divert traffic from the main shipping channel used by iron ore carriers, improving vessel separation and reducing congestion in one of the world’s highest-tonnage bulk export ports. For marine and port engineers, the works will involve large-scale capital dredging in highly tidal, sediment-laden conditions, with implications for berth access, navigation risk and cyclone-resilience planning.

Westgold Resources is retiring non-executive directors Gary Davison and Julius Matthys at the end of June as it “right-sizes” its executive committee following the 2024 integration of Karora Resources. The board changes come after consolidating Karora’s Higginsville and Beta Hunt operations into Westgold’s Western Australian gold portfolio, which now includes multiple underground and open-pit mines feeding several regional processing plants. For mine planners and project teams, the leaner governance structure signals faster capital allocation decisions on brownfield expansions and underground development across the combined assets.

BHP has announced a reshaped executive leadership team ahead of CEO-designate Brandon Craig taking over on 1 July, including splitting its Americas portfolio into separate regions and expanding several senior roles. The reorganisation carves out the former unified Americas business, signalling more focused oversight of copper, iron ore and coal assets across Chile, Brazil and North America. For contractors and JV partners, decision-making on major capital projects, brownfield expansions and decarbonisation initiatives is likely to become more region-specific and potentially faster once the new structure beds in.

Galliford Try infrastructure divisional managing director David Lowery says the contractor is gearing up for a multi‑year surge in UK infrastructure spend across highways, water and energy sectors, stressing the need to tighten project delivery. He points to a growing pipeline under the Road Investment Strategy and AMP8 water programmes, where complex, multi‑stakeholder schemes and NEC contract frameworks are putting schedule and cost risk under scrutiny. Lowery emphasises earlier contractor involvement, better digital design coordination and stronger supply chain integration as core levers to control interfaces and programme risk.

The UK government’s planned Nuclear Regulation Bill, trailed in last month’s King’s Speech, aims to streamline approvals for new nuclear projects such as Sizewell C and future small modular reactors by overhauling licensing and environmental consenting processes. Proposals include clearer statutory timelines for the Office for Nuclear Regulation and Environment Agency decisions, plus closer alignment between nuclear site licensing and Development Consent Orders under the Planning Act 2008. For civil and geotechnical teams, this could compress front-end programme risk, shifting focus to earlier ground investigation, safety case development and supply chain mobilisation.

The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista) is seeking a stronger mandate over major project delivery to give long-term certainty for the UK’s built environment amid political instability. Proposals centre on tighter central oversight of scheme selection, funding pipelines and delivery milestones for large transport, energy and water programmes, rather than leaving decisions vulnerable to short-term ministerial changes. For engineers, this would mean more stable multi-year budgets, clearer sequencing of major works and potentially stricter gateway controls on design, risk and cost management.

Transport for London has appointed Amey and Egis to separate long-term infrastructure frameworks to support major upgrade and renewal works across the capital’s transport network. The frameworks are expected to cover multi-disciplinary design, asset management and construction support for complex rail, road and station projects, including tunnels, bridges and signalling interfaces. For contractors and consultants, the awards signal a pipeline of TfL work being channelled through these two integrators, with procurement and design coordination likely to be routed via their framework teams.

UK civil engineers are warning that policymakers “aren’t moving fast enough” on decarbonisation after the Climate Change Committee’s latest progress report showed the UK is off track for its sixth carbon budget and 2030 NDC. The Institution of Civil Engineers is pressing for accelerated delivery of low‑carbon infrastructure, including grid reinforcement for renewables, building retrofit at scale and low‑carbon transport schemes. For practitioners, this signals likely tighter embodied‑carbon expectations on materials, more whole‑life carbon assessments and stronger scrutiny of project emissions pathways.

An electricity margin alert issued during the latest UK heatwave is prompting civil engineering and construction firms to review on‑site power resilience as National Grid ESO warns of tighter capacity when air‑conditioning and cooling loads spike. Contractors are being urged to assess diesel generator sizing, fuel storage autonomy and the integration of battery units or temporary solar to maintain crane, batching plant and dewatering operations during potential grid constraints. For major infrastructure sites with high peak loads, planners may need revised load‑shedding strategies and more robust contingency power in method statements and risk assessments.

Google.org has awarded a £1M grant to the FloodAction Coalition to build a UK-wide water resilience intelligence platform targeting both fluvial flooding and drought risk. The system is expected to aggregate hydrological, land-use and socio-economic data to identify priority catchments where nature-based solutions—such as floodplain reconnection, wetland restoration and upstream storage—offer the greatest cost–benefit. For civil and geotechnical teams, the platform should provide more granular evidence to justify green infrastructure schemes in business cases and long-term asset management plans.

Greater regional infrastructure investment under a potential Andy Burnham government must not be funded by cutting London’s capital budgets, BusinessLDN deputy CEO Muniya Barua has warned. She argues that shifting money away from major London schemes—such as upgrades to key commuter rail corridors and strategic road junctions—would weaken national productivity rather than rebalance it. For engineers, the message is that long-term pipeline certainty for both London and regional projects is critical to maintain design capacity, contractor capability and supply-chain investment.

Chilean copper miner has ordered 23 new Konecranes lift trucks for logistics operations at a major open-pit copper mine in northern Chile. The fleet, specified with heavy-duty protection packages for abrasive dust, high ambient temperatures and rough underfoot conditions, will handle tasks such as component movements, consumables, and containerised loads across workshops and laydown yards. Konecranes is bundling the delivery with a comprehensive service and support package, signalling continued demand for OEM-backed maintenance in remote mining regions.

BME, part of Omnia Group, is pushing “connected” AI-enabled blasting by integrating its advanced explosives with digital platforms to turn blasting from simple rock breakage into a data-rich upstream process. Using blast design, initiation and monitoring tools linked across the value chain, the company is targeting tighter fragmentation control, reduced energy use in crushing and milling, and improved vibration and flyrock management. For mine planners and geotechnical teams, this means blast parameters increasingly feed directly into real-time optimisation of loading, hauling and downstream plant performance.

Tonly Heavy Industries used its 2026 Overseas Customer Festival to showcase new “green” mining trucks aimed at low‑carbon, intelligent and unmanned haulage under China’s dual‑carbon policy. The line-up centres on electric and hybrid haul trucks designed for large open‑pit operations, with integrated autonomy-ready control systems and digital fleet management interfaces for remote dispatch. For mine planners and operators, the focus is on cutting diesel consumption and emissions while preparing haulage fleets for progressive automation and centralised control.

Namibia is emerging as a copper exploration hub as Australian juniors C29 Metals and Midas Minerals ramp up drilling across underexplored Proterozoic copper belts using extensive historical datasets from past state and major-company campaigns. C29 managing director Shannon Green is targeting large-scale sediment-hosted systems analogous to the Central African Copperbelt, with modern geophysics and deeper RC and diamond drilling testing beneath shallow cover that limited earlier work. For geologists and miners, Namibia offers district-scale potential with relatively simple logistics, established mining law, and scope for rapid resource definition if current programs hit thickness and grade.

29Metals has reported new drilling results at its Golden Grove operations in Western Australia, confirming further high‑grade copper–zinc–gold mineralisation at the Oizon deposit within the Gossan Hill project. Resource extension and resource conversion drilling both intersected additional ore-grade material, supporting Oizon’s progression as a key emerging underground ore source for the site’s existing processing plant. The results indicate scope to grow mine life and re-optimise stope sequencing, with geotechnical and ventilation planning likely to focus increasingly on Oizon as drilling tightens the resource model.

Gina Rinehart is investing $50 million in California-based Lumitron Technologies to commercialise its HyperView very high-energy electron beam system, claimed to deliver up to 1,000 times the resolution of conventional X-ray imaging. The technology can characterise mineral composition and detect contaminants in ore streams, enabling selective processing of higher-grade ore with potential gains in recovery, energy use and processing costs. The deal, which may rise to $100 million and gives Hancock Prospecting a board seat, extends Rinehart’s push from iron ore into critical minerals and mining-adjacent technologies.

London-based metals.io has tokenised 7 tonnes of cobalt and nickel on its Tezos-based platform, issuing xCo and xNi tokens that confer ownership of metal stored in secure facilities via a trust structure and smart contracts. By stripping out warehousing, financing and minimum lot-size constraints typical of London Metal Exchange-style physical trade, the model opens battery and stainless steel feedstocks to smaller investors while creating alternative offtake routes for suppliers. Existing products include xU3O8 tokenised uranium, VNX Gold-backed digital gold and Noemon Tech’s RARE basket of strategic metals, with palladium tokens due within weeks.

Hemlo Mining has increased measured and indicated resources at its namesake Ontario operation by 34% to 96.9 million tonnes at 1.55 g/t gold, totalling 4.84 million oz., with inferred resources up 39% to 12.1 million tonnes at 2.22 g/t for 866,000 oz. The update, dated 31 December, incorporates drilling from a 130,000-metre programme, revised geological models and a higher long-term gold price assumption of US$2,500/oz, and includes a new A-Zone lens (635,000 inferred tonnes at 3.43 g/t). Underground M&I resources rose 40% to 24.9 million tonnes at 3.53 g/t (2.83 million oz.), while open-pit resources increased to 2.01 million oz., feeding into a new technical report due in H2 2027.