Geomechanics.io

£500M spent on cancelled National Highways schemes has delivered no confirmed benefit to road users or the organisation, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee were told. Senior executives were unable to identify any retained value from design work, land acquisition or statutory processes on the scrapped projects, despite the expenditure coming from the government’s roads investment budget. The session raises pressure for tighter front-end scheme appraisal, clearer cancellation criteria and stronger governance of major highway design and planning spend.

Galliford Try’s Building business has secured a place on Sovereign Network Group’s new £750m Affordable Homes framework, targeting large-scale residential delivery across SNG’s housing portfolio. The multi-year framework is expected to cover design-and-build of low- to mid-rise schemes, integrating modern methods of construction and fabric-first energy performance to meet current Part L and Future Homes Standard trajectories. For civil and geotechnical teams, the pipeline signals sustained demand for foundation, drainage and site infrastructure packages on brownfield and constrained urban sites across SNG’s operating regions.

Heritage group the Victorian Society is urging Londoners to write to mayor Sadiq Khan opposing Network Rail’s proposed £1.2bn redevelopment of Liverpool Street Station. Campaigners object to the scale of the over-station commercial scheme, warning that major alterations to the existing concourse and historic fabric could compromise the Grade II-listed station and adjoining Great Eastern Hotel. For designers and contractors, the dispute signals continued scrutiny of large overbuild projects above operational rail hubs in densely built historic settings.

Teck Resources warns that imported diesel and freight cost spikes linked to Strait of Hormuz disruptions will lift Q2 2026 operating costs at its Chilean copper mines, with knock-on increases in explosives prices but no immediate fuel shortages expected. First-quarter copper output rose to 140,000 tonnes, including a 31.2% jump at Quebrada Blanca to 55,500 tonnes, supporting guidance of 455,000–530,000 tonnes in 2026 and 505,000–580,000 tonnes in 2027. The planned Anglo American tie-up would integrate Quebrada Blanca with Collahuasi via a 15 km conveyor, targeting an extra 175,000 tonnes per year from 2030–2049.

Anglo American has drawn bids from Stanmore Resources, Mitsubishi Corp. and Indonesia’s BUMA Internasional for its Queensland steelmaking coal portfolio, after a planned $3.8 billion sale to Peabody Energy collapsed following a fire at the Moranbah North mine. The assets include Moranbah North, now back in production, and the Grosvenor metallurgical coal mine, which remains offline after a 2024 blaze, with BUMA already tied in via a conditional 51% stake in the Dawson project. A successful sale would advance Anglo’s divestment drive alongside the Valterra Platinum spin-off and ongoing efforts to sell De Beers.

Gold equities remain priced near a 9.6x next‑12‑month cash flow multiple, only modestly above the five‑year 8.35x average, even as Haywood and BMO call a “structural bull market” with gold up 7.8% year‑to‑date and forecast around US$4,900–5,000/oz through 2027. Haywood flags Equinox Gold’s Valentine and Greenstone projects targeting >500,000 oz/y in Canada, Artemis Gold’s Blackwater expansion, and restart plays such as 1911 Gold’s True North and First Mining’s Springpole pending its environmental assessment. Troilus Mining’s namesake project is modelled at US$7.3 billion NPV and 47% IRR at US$5,000/oz, with a construction decision due by year‑end.

Morgan Stanley has cut its gold price target for H2 2026 to $5,200/oz from $5,700/oz, following a six-week selloff that wiped nearly 25% off prices from a late-January peak near $5,600/oz and produced the worst monthly drop since 2008. The bank attributes the slump to a “rare supply shock” combined with rising real interest rates as Federal Reserve cuts are delayed, arguing this has “changed the entire macro landscape”. Analysts now frame gold as a barometer of liquidity, bond yields and monetary policy rather than a pure uncertainty hedge, despite bullion still being up about 9% year-to-date and trading around $4,650–$4,850/oz.

British Columbia premier David Eby’s decision not to introduce spring amendments to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is drawing fire from the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME), which warns the delay deepens uncertainty around the province’s online mineral claims system struck down in the Gitxaała First Nation case. AME president and CEO Todd Stone says explorers now face greater difficulty raising capital and planning 2026 field seasons while only about 15% of mineral claim applications are being processed within the 90–120-day service standard. The impasse also clashes with Ottawa’s push, via the new Major Projects Office, to cut mine permitting timelines to two years and fast-track critical mineral projects outside Chinese-controlled supply chains.

Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project in Limpopo has completed construction of the 4‑Mtpa Shaft #3, broken ground on a 3.3‑Mtpa Phase 2 concentrator and started widening Shaft #2, keeping its Phase 2 expansion on schedule for end‑2027. Hoisting capacity is set to rise five‑fold to about 5 Mtpa, lifting output from roughly 100,000 oz to over 450,000 oz of PGMs plus gold, with a projected Phase 2 life‑of‑mine cash cost of $599/oz net of byproduct credits. A future Phase 3 could take throughput to 10.7 Mtpa and extend mine life by 29 years.

Myriad Uranium’s planned all-share merger with Rush Rare Metals will consolidate control of Wyoming’s Copper Mountain district for the first time since Union Pacific’s 1970s exploration campaign, which totalled the equivalent of C$117 million in today’s dollars. A new technical report compiles historical drilling indicating 16.5–26.7 million lb. U₃O₈ across seven deposits plus Department of Energy/Bendix estimates of 245–655 million lb. in broader “control and assessment” areas, of which Myriad holds 80% and 62% respectively. A 4,500-metre stage-two drill programme in 2024–2025 aims to validate these non-compliant resources and test indications that historical grades were understated.

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has launched the “Nuclear Dominance — 3 by 33” campaign, using the Defense Production Act Nuclear Fuel Cycle Consortium of more than 90 companies to rebuild domestic capability across uranium milling, conversion, enrichment, deconversion, fabrication, recycling and reprocessing. By 2033 the consortium aims to secure a cost-competitive US fuel supply chain, accelerate advanced reactor deployment and move towards a closed fuel cycle. Rapid 60‑day “sprints” will target near‑term actions to cut reliance on foreign enriched uranium and critical materials.

Anglo Asian Mining is installing nine Maelgwyn Imhoflot high‑efficiency pneumatic flotation cells at its Gedabek plant in Azerbaijan, with the upgrade scheduled for completion by the end of April to expand sulphide processing capacity. Parallel investment at the Demirli operation targets additional concentrator throughput to treat ore from the nearby Gilar and Zafar deposits, integrating with existing agitation leach and heap leach circuits. The move signals a shift towards higher‑grade sulphide recovery and improved metal yields from complex polymetallic ores across the Gedabek Contract Area.

Two sets of mine hoisting equipment from Tianjin SIEMAG TECBERG Machinery Co Ltd have passed final acceptance at the SDE 2# coal mine in Indonesia, confirming the German group’s first operational hoisting installation in the country. The project, delivered for the developing SDE 2# shaft complex, includes complete mechanical and electrical hoist systems engineered for deep coal operations. Successful commissioning signals SIEMAG TECBERG’s technical and service capability for shaft hoisting in Indonesia and supports its broader expansion strategy in Southeast Asia.

Commissioning has started on Rio2’s new Tailings Filtration Facility at the Condestable copper mine in Peru, an 18‑month build with a reported capital cost of about US$27 million to convert the operation to dry‑stack tailings. The facility will replace conventional slurry deposition with filtered tailings stacked on a compacted, engineered surface, reducing water return pipelines and large impoundment requirements. For geotechnical and tailings engineers, the shift implies new demands on filtration performance, stack stability design and operational monitoring in a seismically active coastal region.

WireCo has identified vibration and shock transfer as a major driver of structural fatigue in draglines and electric rope shovels, and is promoting its UNION Gladiator synthetic pendants to reduce these dynamic loads. By replacing traditional steel pendants with synthetic elements, the system is designed to dampen impact forces transmitted through the boom and rigging, lowering peak stresses on critical welds and chord members. The approach targets mines operating equipment at higher duty cycles, aiming to extend structural life and defer major rebuilds or replacements.

Construction of a new A422 overbridge between Brackley and Buckingham is being re-sequenced to span the HS2 alignment, forcing major changes in methodology and extensive temporary works to keep traffic flowing on this key route. Designers and contractors are coordinating complex staging, including phased carriageway realignments, temporary support structures and possession windows over the future high-speed rail cutting. The scheme demands tight collaboration between HS2, highway authorities and multiple contractors to manage interface risks, groundworks and structural tolerances above the new rail corridor.

A second major rail possession on the Gospel Oak–Barking line has enabled Barhale to complete key bridge structural works and extract critical material samples for Thames Water’s multi-million-pound Northern Outfall Sewer rehabilitation in East London. Engineers used the blockade to access the Victorian sewer carriers beneath the rail bridge, undertake intrusive investigations on the brick and concrete structure, and verify load paths and residual capacity. Findings will inform detailed design for strengthening and waterproofing works, with implications for future possessions, temporary works sequencing, and long-term asset life.

Construction clients and contractors are starting to embed biodiversity metrics alongside whole‑life carbon assessment, using quantified habitat units and standardised biodiversity net gain (BNG) calculators to track performance through design, procurement and delivery. Supply chains are being asked to evidence habitat creation, connectivity and species outcomes in product data sheets and contracts, linking materials choices and temporary works to measurable on‑site ecological change rather than qualitative statements. For geotechnical and civil teams, this signals future schemes where cut‑and‑fill, drainage, earthworks phasing and landscape design must all be optimised against both carbon and biodiversity targets.

Pagabo has launched a consolidated UK-wide civil engineering and enabling works framework worth £4.16bn (£5bn including VAT), merging two existing national agreements into a single procurement route. The framework will cover a broad range of infrastructure works, from highways and bridges to utilities and public realm schemes, enabling public sector clients to procure major civils packages through standardised terms. Contractors and consultants can expect larger, multi-year work pipelines to be let under unified commercial conditions, with streamlined prequalification and call-off processes.

Package of reforms to electricity network planning and consenting has been approved by the UK Government following a lengthy consultation, reshaping how new transmission lines, substations and grid reinforcement schemes move through the Development Consent Order and Town and Country Planning routes. The changes are aimed at accelerating delivery of major 132kV–400kV projects needed for offshore wind and grid-scale storage connections by streamlining environmental assessment, statutory consultation and examination timetables. Developers, DNOs and National Grid ESO will need to adjust programme risk, land rights strategies and front‑end design to align with the new consenting framework.

Costain and A E Yates have appointed Hyperion Robotics to 3D print low‑carbon concrete sleepers for a major East Coast Cluster carbon capture scheme on Teesside, replacing conventional precast units. Hyperion’s robotic extrusion system will optimise sleeper geometry and material placement to cut cement content and embodied CO₂ while maintaining structural performance for heavy industrial pipe and cable corridors. For geotechnical and civil teams, the move signals growing scope to integrate digitally fabricated, low‑carbon concrete elements into large linear infrastructure and energy‑transition projects.

Western Australia has extended support for its lithium industry with a $30 million allocation to expand a fee relief package for producers facing low spodumene prices and project delays. The funding builds on existing concessions on port charges and mine safety levies, targeting operations such as the Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant and upstream hard‑rock mines in the Pilbara and Goldfields. For mine planners and processors, the move signals state backing for keeping installed conversion capacity warm rather than mothballed while prices remain depressed.

Alkane Resources has lifted its cash, bullion and listed investments to $374 million off the back of a strong March quarter at its Tomingley gold operations in New South Wales’ East Lachlan region. The company is using Tomingley’s production performance to fund ongoing drilling and resource growth at the nearby Boda and Kaiser porphyry prospects, part of the Northern Molong Porphyry Project. For mine planners and geotechs, the cash build signals continued backing for deeper drilling, geotechnical characterisation and potential underground or large-scale open pit scenarios in the district.

The Federal and Western Australian Governments have agreed to progress a bilateral approvals agreement under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to cut duplication in environmental assessments for mining and major projects. The deal would allow WA environmental impact assessments and conditions set by the WA Environmental Protection Authority to be formally accredited for Commonwealth purposes, reducing parallel federal referrals and assessment timeframes. For proponents planning large iron ore, lithium and critical minerals projects in the Pilbara and Goldfields, the change could materially compress pre‑construction schedules and simplify approvals risk management.