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Core Lithium has awarded NRW Pty Ltd a circa A$50 million surface mining services contract for open-pit mining at the Grants deposit within the wholly owned Finniss Lithium Operation in Australia’s Northern Territory. The package covers all key activities required to deliver ore from the Grants pit, including drill-and-blast, load-and-haul, and associated mine services for the spodumene-bearing pegmatite. For geotechnical and mine planners, the award signals continued development of Finniss as a conventional truck-and-shovel open pit rather than an early shift to underground methods.

Atoms, the “physical AI” company founded by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, has completed its acquisition of autonomous haulage specialist Pronto, which now becomes the core technology engine of the new Atoms Mining division. The unit is one of three Atoms business lines focused on digitising physical operations using purpose-built, intelligent machines, signalling deeper integration of Pronto’s retrofit autonomy stacks and perception systems into mine fleets. For mine operators, this points to accelerated deployment of OEM-agnostic autonomy and data-rich fleet control across brownfield truck and equipment platforms.

St George Mining has signed an MoU with Boston Metal to trial molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) for niobium production at St George’s 100%-owned Araxá niobium-rare earths project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The joint project will test MOE’s ability to improve niobium recovery and processing efficiency compared with conventional pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical routes. For mine developers and metallurgists, the trial will indicate whether MOE can offer a lower-emission, potentially lower-cost flowsheet option for future niobium and REE concentrate processing at Araxá-scale deposits.

Minerals Council of Australia has been confirmed as Endorsing Partner for the Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX26), positioning the event as a ‘by industry, for industry’ platform for Australia’s mining and METS sector. The MCA, the peak body for major iron ore, coal, gold, copper and critical minerals producers, will use the partnership to promote technology-led productivity, decarbonisation and skills development. For engineers and suppliers, GRX26 now offers a more direct channel to operators and policy influencers shaping mine automation, electrification and processing innovation in Australia.

Sandvik has launched the DD423i automated twin-boom development drill rig, built on the DD422i platform but engineered for higher drilling accuracy, automation readiness and data integration in underground hard-rock mines. The rig is designed for multi-face development with intelligent drilling controls, compatibility with Sandvik’s AutoMine and OptiMine systems, and upgraded onboard diagnostics to reduce unplanned downtime. For mine engineers, the DD423i targets tighter drill-and-blast control, improved overbreak management and more consistent advance per blast in high-cost development headings.

Specialised Roading Equipment (SRE) is leveraging expanded after-sales and field support to accelerate uptake of its purpose-built road construction and maintenance plant in Australia, building on its New Zealand manufacturing base. The company is pairing its high-spec spray seal and binder application units with locally based technicians, parts stocking and remote diagnostics to minimise downtime on council and contractor fleets. For asset owners, the stronger service presence reduces lifecycle risk on specialist surfacing equipment that often operates in remote or constrained roadwork environments.

Akuna Drive link road has opened in Melbourne’s west, providing a new connection between Newport and Williamstown as part of works to remove two level crossings at Maddox Road and Champion Road on the Altona Loop. The project grade-separates rail from vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, eliminating boom-gate delays and reducing collision risk on this busy suburban corridor. For civil and transport engineers, the scheme signals further reconfiguration of local traffic patterns and future opportunities for intersection upgrades and active transport links around the new alignment.

Kier has begun a £700m highways and infrastructure service contract with Norfolk County Council, covering maintenance and improvement of 9,836km of roads over up to 14 years. Scope includes resurfacing, surface dressing, planned maintenance, drainage upgrades, bridge and structures works, plus cyclical operations such as grass cutting and drainage cleansing, with more than 100 staff TUPE-transferring from the previous provider. The deal extends Kier’s long-term local authority highways portfolio, which already includes Birmingham, Shropshire, Somerset and North and West Northamptonshire.

WSP has secured a place on the Department for Education’s Technical Advisory Services 2025 framework, supporting delivery of the DfE capital programme for four years alongside the £15.4bn Construction Framework 25 and the Education Estates Strategy. Scope covers project, cost and commercial management, feasibility design input, detailed technical reviews, surveys, contract administration, health and safety, and construction quality monitoring. For consultants and contractors on DfE schools and colleges, this signals continued emphasis on robust front‑end feasibility, compliance and quality assurance across new-build and refurbishment portfolios.

Turner & Townsend has completed its acquisition of Johannesburg-based Profica and appointed Profica founder and former CEO Tim White as regional managing director for Africa. The deal expands Turner & Townsend’s project and programme management capability across commercial real estate, mixed-use and industrial developments in key African markets, building on Profica’s track record in multi-storey office towers and retail centres. Clients can expect integrated cost, schedule and risk management services delivered through a combined team with on-the-ground presence in South Africa and other sub-Saharan countries.

GeoPura is partnering with Forth Ports’ Port of Tilbury to install a 1MW green hydrogen production facility supplying port equipment and heavy plant. The low‑carbon hydrogen will fuel construction activities on National Highways’ Lower Thames Crossing, reducing diesel use for high‑duty cycles such as piling rigs, cranes and haul trucks. For contractors and port engineers, the project signals growing scope to deploy hydrogen for non‑road mobile machinery on major UK infrastructure schemes and in quayside operations.

Essex-based temporary power specialist Templant, which operates a rental fleet of more than 250 generators from 20 kVA to 1250 kVA plus battery energy storage systems and load banks, has been acquired by Camfaud Group, the UK’s largest concrete pumping company and part of Concrete Pumping Holdings (NASDAQ: BBCP). Templant will use Camfaud’s existing depots to build a multi-depot, 24/7 national network, adding service vans and HGVs to cut response times for planned and emergency power on major infrastructure and utility projects. Backed by over 35 engineers, electricians and drivers, the business plans a major expansion of Stage V generators and BESS to meet lower-emission requirements from Tier 1 contractors and utilities.

The Green Heat Network Fund will accept Welsh applications from Round 12, backed by an extra £195m per year in UK capital funding to 2030 under the Warm Homes Plan, with both public and private heat network owners eligible. Existing schemes such as Cardiff’s low carbon networks funded under the Heat Networks Investment Project and the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme will sit alongside GHNF support for new build, expansion and decarbonisation projects. Technical opportunities flagged include community-led ambient temperature networks for off-gas-grid housing and mine water heat schemes identified in the Wales Mine Water Heat Opportunity Map.

The Federation of Master Builders and the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust are urging the next Scottish government elected on 7 May to prioritise support for small contractors and electrical apprenticeships. They are pressing Holyrood for stable, multi‑year funding for vocational training, faster planning and building warrant decisions, and clearer pipelines for public works such as school refurbishments and social housing upgrades. For civil and building contractors, the message signals likely pressure for more predictable procurement, streamlined approvals and stronger skills provision across structural, electrical and retrofit projects.

South Australia has appointed Suzanne Hunt as director of the state’s Geological Survey, bringing three decades of geoscience experience to the agency that underpins exploration targeting, stratigraphic mapping and pre-competitive data releases. Hunt will oversee statewide geophysical surveys, drill core libraries and 3D basin and crustal models that guide greenfields exploration and mine expansion decisions. Her leadership is expected to influence how South Australia prioritises deep-cover exploration, critical minerals prospectivity and integration of Geoscience Australia datasets into state-scale resource assessments.

Antipa Minerals has upgraded the mineral resource for its 100 per cent-owned Minyari gold–copper–silver project in Western Australia’s Paterson Province, signalling stronger standalone development potential. The update covers the Minyari and WACA deposits, where previous drilling defined near-surface, high-grade mineralisation amenable to open-pit and potential underground mining, with gold, copper and silver reported over multiple lodes. For geotechnical and mine planners, the revised resource inventory and geometry will directly influence pit shell optimisation, underground access design and potential processing plant scale on a remote greenfields site.

KGL Resources has secured a $433 million (US$300 million) streaming agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals to advance its Jervois copper project in the Northern Territory, covering a significant portion of upfront development capital. The deal, structured as a precious metals stream over future by-product output, is intended to accelerate mine construction and de-risk financing compared with conventional debt. For geotechnical and mining teams, the funding clarity signals likely progression to detailed underground design, pit optimisation and long-lead procurement on a compressed schedule.

Tungsten Mining is preparing a major drilling campaign at its Watershed tungsten project in north Queensland, targeting extensions to known scheelite mineralisation within the existing open-pittable resource envelope. The program will use multi‑rig reverse circulation and diamond drilling to tighten spacing on priority lodes and test down‑dip continuity, aiming to upgrade Inferred tonnes to Indicated and support a revised mine plan. For geotechs and mine planners, new structural and geometallurgical data from fresh core could materially change pit slope design, dilution assumptions and processing flowsheet options.

Queensland has declared the Sugarbag Hill ultra-high purity quartz sand venture a prescribed project, fast-tracking approvals under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act. The deposit is being positioned as a source of ultra-low impurity silica feedstock for solar PV and semiconductor supply chains, with processing to focus on tight control of trace elements such as Fe, Al and Ti. The status signals priority for associated infrastructure, including haul roads, power and water connections, which will be critical for meeting stringent product specification and export logistics.

France’s Eramet and Chile’s state miner ENAMI are heading to court over the Salares Altoandinos lithium project, a Cold War-era CEOL licensing relic now colliding with Eramet’s 1,200 sq. km of claims covering 99% of the La Isla and Aguilar salt flats in the Atacama. ENAMI has selected Rio Tinto’s $415 million bid, which includes its direct lithium extraction process and access to the Rincon pilot plant, for a project estimated at 4.5 million tonnes lithium and $3 billion capex. A dispute lasting up to two years, possibly moving to international arbitration, could delay Chile’s plan to double lithium output to about 500,000 tonnes annually by 2035 and complicate Kast’s new mining agenda.

The White House has named Highland Copper’s Copperwood project in Michigan, alongside Ivanhoe Electric, Rio Tinto and Wieland, as part of a push to expand US copper mining, smelting and fabrication capacity following President Trump’s tariff adjustments on steel, aluminium and copper derivatives. Copperwood is a fully permitted underground room-and-pillar mine designed to process about 6,800 tonnes per day over an 11-year life, producing roughly 64.6 million lb of copper and 107,000 oz of silver annually, with initial capex estimated at $391 million. The US Export-Import Bank has issued a $250 million letter of interest, and Highland’s shares rose 7.4% in Toronto, signalling stronger financing and policy backing for project execution.

New drilling at Vizsla Copper’s Poplar project in central British Columbia has extended the Thira porphyry system 200 metres north, with hole TH26-151 cutting 675 metres from 32 metres downhole grading 0.26% copper and 0.015% molybdenum, including 435 metres at 0.31% copper and 0.022% molybdenum from 198 metres. Together with hole TH26-148 (483 metres at 0.26% copper, 0.016% molybdenum from 9 metres), mineralisation now spans at least 800 metres east–west and 700 metres north–south and remains open. The 8,000‑metre programme is testing multiple porphyry targets along an 8 km alteration corridor within a 470 sq. km, road-accessible district 38 km from Imperial Metals’ Huckleberry mine.

Liberty Gold’s Black Pine oxide gold project in southeastern Idaho has entered the US National Environmental Policy Act process, with the US Forest Service issuing a notice of intent to prepare a full environmental impact statement covering public scoping, technical studies and coordinated federal–state environmental analysis. The project, in the Great Basin, holds nearly 4.2 million oz indicated and is scoped to produce about 2.2 million oz over a 17‑year mine life, and is now a FAST‑41 covered project with a published, integrated permitting schedule. Idaho has committed to align state permitting with FAST‑41, making Black Pine the first precious metals mine to operate under a single coordinated federal–state framework, while feasibility‑level work continues toward a year‑end technical report.

British Columbia Premier David Eby plans a temporary suspension of specific sections of the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act after the Gitxaała First Nation Court of Appeal ruling found the online mineral claims system, which allows staking on Crown land without prior consultation, conflicts with DRIPA. The government will amend DRIPA in the current session, treat the vote as a confidence matter, and seek a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that could take up to three years, prolonging regulatory uncertainty for explorers. The Association for Mineral Exploration reports only 15% of mineral claim applications are being processed within the 90–120-day service standard, warning delays threaten the 2026 summer exploration season.