Geomechanics.io

Hemlo Mining has reported a standout intercept of 16.1 g/t gold over 8.1 m from 99 m depth in South‑Rim hole 7652606 at its Ontario mine, including a 2 m interval at 59.7 g/t, as part of a 130,000 m 2026 drilling campaign. South‑Rim sits 50–150 m from the producing C‑Zone and is interpreted as part of a plunge‑controlled structure extending >1.5 km vertically within a 300 m‑wide east‑west corridor, with five underground and one surface rig currently active. All seven completed South‑Rim holes hit mineralisation, which remains open along strike and down plunge, while step‑out work is shifting east towards the largely untested B‑Zone.

Larvotto Resources’ initial flotation testwork on tailings storage facility 1 at the Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales reports 80–95% antimony and 40–75% gold recoveries from about 1.4 million tonnes of legacy tailings. The material, deposited over ~20 years from an antimony-focused plant, also carries significant gold and tungsten, with earlier work showing 90% tungsten recovery and a 16-fold grade upgrade into a saleable concentrate. Larvotto plans to run the same conventional flotation circuit in its upgraded plant from August 2026, coupling metal recovery with rehabilitation of a facility beside a 500-metre gorge.

Sandvik’s Digital Mining Technologies division, created in 2021 to drive underground electrification, automation, digitalisation and end-to-end optimisation, is now deploying interoperable systems across planning, execution and processing. The business integrates Deswik mine planning, Newtrax IoT and OptiMine/Fleet management with AutoMine automation to link real-time telemetry from loaders, trucks and drills to short-interval control and production scheduling. For engineers, the key shift is from siloed fleet and planning tools to a single data environment that can support dynamic haulage routing, energy use tracking and condition-based maintenance.

Tasmania’s Devonport Berth Three project has reached a key milestone with completion of the final gantry superstructure lift for the new Spirit Quay ferry terminal. The works will relocate the Spirit of Tasmania’s operational base from the existing Terminal One to Spirit Quay, designed to handle the larger Spirit of Tasmania vessels on the Devonport–Geelong route. Structural completion of the gantry frame now allows fit-out of ship-loading equipment, mooring infrastructure and associated landside civil works to proceed on programme.

Two engineering consortia have been shortlisted by the New South Wales Government to design and deliver a fix for Mitchells Causeway on the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass, closed since March after substantial cracking and ground movement were detected. The move follows an industry briefing and on-site inspection involving 20 Australian and international firms, signalling complex geotechnical and structural stabilisation requirements on this steep Blue Mountains section. Outcomes will directly affect detour durations, heavy vehicle access and long-term slope and pavement performance on this key freight and commuter corridor.

Nearly $14 million in New South Wales Government funding is being directed this month to safety and reliability upgrades on the Kings Highway, a key freight and commuter link between the ACT and the South Coast carrying general freight and agricultural loads. Works are expected to target high‑risk sections and curves, intersections and overtaking opportunities to cut crash risk and improve travel time reliability for heavy vehicles. Geometric improvements, pavement strengthening and roadside safety treatments will be central for designers and contractors planning traffic staging and temporary works.

Core Lithium has awarded a $274 million underground mining contract at the Finniss lithium project near Darwin to Dev Mining Services, a subsidiary of Development Global, as part of its restart strategy after open-pit operations were suspended in 2024. The deal covers underground development and production at the BP33 deposit, targeting spodumene ore beneath the existing pit using decline access rather than further cutbacks. For geotechnical and mine planners, the shift to underground at BP33 signals a focus on higher-grade zones and tighter control of strip ratios and operating costs in a volatile lithium price environment.

High-grade gold intercepts at Pantoro Gold’s Racetrack target are extending the Norseman project’s growth pipeline in Western Australia, with multiple lodes now defined over several hundred metres of strike and remaining open at depth. Recent drilling has returned narrow but very high-grade zones, including visible gold in quartz veining adjacent to existing infrastructure at the Scotia Mining Centre. The results support near-mine resource growth and potential low-capex mill feed, with Pantoro planning further step-out and infill drilling to refine underground mine designs.

BHP president Americas Brandon Craig describes a “massive opportunity” to lift copper output from Tier‑1 assets such as the Escondida open pit in Chile and the Olympic Dam underground operation in South Australia. He points to latent capacity in existing concentrators, debottlenecking of haulage and crushing circuits, and incremental leaching projects as lower‑risk growth options compared with greenfield builds. For geotechnical and mining teams, the focus is on optimising pit slopes, underground ground support and tailings storage to sustain higher throughput without major new footprints.

Rapid expansion across Papua New Guinea’s resources sector is driving the PNG Expo in Port Moresby as a key forum for miners, contractors and OEMs to negotiate new projects and supply contracts face to face. Delegates are targeting upcoming large-scale copper–gold and LNG developments, with particular interest in local haul road construction, modular camp infrastructure and power solutions for remote high-rainfall sites. For geotechnical and civil teams, the event signals growing demand for slope stability design, tailings storage planning and logistics corridors across highly weathered tropical terrain.

Fortescue has joined the CoRE Learning Foundation as a garnet-level sponsor, backing its national STEM education program aimed at building a future workforce for mining, resources and renewable energy projects. The partnership supports CoRE’s project-based learning model, which links school curricula to real-world mine planning, orebody modelling and decarbonisation challenges faced by operators such as Fortescue. For geotechnical and mining engineers, this signals stronger pipelines of graduates familiar with digital geology tools, pit design concepts and energy-transition technologies before entering tertiary study or apprenticeships.

A Herrenknecht Mixshield TBM has begun driving a 2,200m National Grid cable tunnel under the Thames between Gravesend and Tilbury for the Ferrovial Bemo JV, following excavation of the launch shaft with a Herrenknecht Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine. The 4,730mm diameter, 108m-long, 464t machine is designed for mixed chalk–flint ground with compressive strengths up to 1,000MPa and water pressures up to 4.5 bar at 41m depth, using multiple sealing systems and a personnel airlock for hyperbaric interventions. The TBM installs 4.0m ID / 4.5m OD precast segmental lining on a 350m radius alignment, with hydraulic overcutter, mini gripper, anti-roll fins, face drilling rig, telescopic camera, VMT navigation and a dedicated separation plant and multi-service vehicles.

Cameron Homes has secured East Staffordshire Borough Council approval for a £39m residential scheme delivering 119 homes on the former Bamford Works factory site in Uttoxeter, in partnership with JCB. Redevelopment of the brownfield industrial plot will require remediation of legacy manufacturing ground conditions and reconfiguration of existing utilities and access. The scheme signals further intensification of housing on ex-factory land in the Midlands, with geotechnical investigation and contamination management likely to be key early packages.

M Group has appointed Andrew English as managing director for energy infrastructure to expand its delivery of complex, large-scale engineering solutions across the UK network. English will oversee programmes to modernise critical assets and integrate battery storage, EV charging infrastructure and solar power into existing grids, supporting net-zero transition and grid resilience. He brings senior delivery experience from Skanska and John Holland in UK and Australian utilities and transport, signalling a push to scale M Group’s Energy Infrastructure and In-Home business lines in rapidly changing energy markets.

Screencore has launched the Orbiter 206R trommel, a 31‑tonne unit with a 7m³ hopper, 1,200mm heavy belt, and variable feed angle designed to maintain unencumbered material flow. The machine uses independent, radio‑controlled belt speed controls and a large PLC interface with full‑auto functionality, plus a Cat engine on 4m tracks with two‑speed drive and remote control for site mobility. A 180° radial fines conveyor with radio remote and auto‑functionality targets higher stockpile volumes and reduced loader rehandling on constrained sites.

Groundforce Shorco has launched SheetMaster 2.0, a 10‑tonne SWL multi-function trench sheet handling attachment with a ratchet release mechanism designed to prevent accidental sheet drops and remove the need for quick-release shackles. The unit lifts sheets to vertical, incorporates a driving cap to protect pile heads, and acts as an extractor, consolidating three separate tools into one while requiring no formal retraining for operators. Trials with JN Bentley, Seymour Construction, United Infrastructure and J Murphy & Sons report cutting personnel in excavator exclusion zones from up to four to one or two and eliminating work at height during sheet installation.

A new performance evaluation under the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard now lets buildings that are not yet fully compliant benchmark operational and embodied carbon using the same metrics as aligned assets. The framework standardises reporting of whole-life carbon, enabling consistent comparison of energy use, material emissions and retrofit performance across mixed portfolios. For engineers, this supports more granular targeting of fabric upgrades, services optimisation and low‑carbon materials, while still working within existing design, occupancy and budget constraints.

Finning UK & Ireland has invested £200,000 in advanced Cat engine testing, including a new £160,000 high‑power dynamometer at its Cannock headquarters to certify build quality, strength and power for engines overhauled at its component rebuild centre. The dyno cell collects detailed power, torque and load data in a controlled environment to validate engines for Cat Certified Rebuilds and customer Self Service Repair Options, with settings tuned for fuel economy and reliability. The Cannock installation sits within a new 1,230 m² Rebuild Centre of Excellence being built to handle rising demand for full machine rebuilds and major reconditions.

Mott MacDonald has agreed to acquire Australian civil contractor Leed Engineering & Construction, adding more than 350 staff across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales to build an integrated design-and-construct water infrastructure offering. Leed brings delivery experience for SA Water, Coliban Water, Snowy Hydro and state climate and water departments across dams, trunk mains, environmental works, bridges, roads and major earthworks in metropolitan, regional and remote locations. The move mirrors the UK Mott MacDonald Bentley model, where nearly 3,000 people deliver end‑to‑end feasibility, design, construction and commissioning for water assets.

Modul-System UK has staged a van demonstration day for gas distributor SGN, showcasing a Ford Transit 350 RWD L2 H3 in repair specification, two 100 kW Ford E-Courier Trend vans (including a ‘Safe & Warm’ build), and a Renault E-Master L2 H3 demonstrator. Fleet leads, front line teams and union representatives compared diesel and electric configurations against SGN’s existing service vans. Modul-System’s Modul Connect platform was also demonstrated, giving mixed-fleet visibility on vehicle location, driving behaviour and diesel versus EV performance during the transition period.

Commitments in the King’s Speech to implement previously announced energy policy measures signal continuity for grid and power infrastructure investment, which Beama says will directly benefit its electrical equipment manufacturers. Although short on new legislation, the focus on delivering existing plans gives developers and contractors clearer visibility on pipelines for substations, transmission upgrades and smart network technologies. For geotechnical and civil teams, this points to sustained demand for foundations, cable routes and grid-connection civil works rather than a major shift in project typologies.

Plans for the £7bn White Horse Reservoir near Abingdon in the Upper Thames catchment have been confirmed by regulators as sufficiently detailed to move to the next planning stage, with additional funding released to advance the scheme. The strategic raw water storage project, promoted by Thames Water, is now being prepared for a Development Consent Order (DCO) application expected in November. Geotechnical and civil teams can expect imminent demand for detailed ground investigation, embankment design and flood risk modelling to support the nationally significant infrastructure consent process.

The Office of Rail and Road has rejected a proposed new passenger service from a Hampshire village to London Waterloo, citing the scale of infrastructure upgrades required on the existing route. ORR concluded that delivering the service would demand substantial works to track, signalling and junction capacity on already constrained sections into Waterloo, going beyond what could be justified for the forecast demand. The decision signals limited near-term scope for additional open-access or local-origin services into London terminals without major corridor-wide capacity enhancements.

A £1.2bn Beach Management Framework has been let by the Environment Agency to Van Oord UK and the VBA Joint Venture to deliver beach nourishment and coastal maintenance along multiple stretches of England’s coastline. The long-term framework will cover works such as shingle recycling, sand replenishment and repair of hard defences, supporting schemes that typically involve millions of cubic metres of sediment movement and regular re-profiling of flood defence beaches. Contractors will need to plan around tight tidal working windows, nearshore dredging constraints and integration with existing sea walls and groynes.