Author: Samantha Bawden

Contractor fined $540,000 after fatal rock fall An underground mining contractor has been fined for a rock fall incident that resulted in the death of an employee at Hamlet underground gold mine in WA in October 2022. The contractor, RUC Mining Contractors, pled guilty to two counts of the same offence — exposing a worker to a risk of death, injury or harm to health, contrary to sections 19(1) and 32(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 — which resulted in the death of a driller and the injury of a probationary offsider. This offence does not indicate that the breach caused the...

UQ researchers identify methane ‘super-emitter' Researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ) have found a coal borehole is releasing the same amount of greenhouse gases as 10,000 cars.  The researchers used advanced gas detection technology to determine 235t of methane were released per year from the abandoned borehole at a farm in the Surat Basin revealing a potentially underreported source of methane in the atmosphere.  With an estimated 130,000 similar boreholes across Queensland, where the quality of sealing by coal explorers is unknown, sealing high-emitting sites could offer a cost-effective way to reduce emissions.  [caption...

Wind turbines begin 1,000km journey to St Ives Seven wind turbines destined for Gold Fields’ landmark $296m St Ives renewable energy project have been unloaded at Geraldton Port in WA. The cargo includes 80m long turbine blades — weighing more than 24t each and reaching a combined length of 1.7km if laid out end-to-end — and is now ready for transportation by road to the St Ives gold mine near Kambalda. Gold Fields principal specialist and project director Simon Schmid says arrival of the wind turbine components marked a major milestone for the project...

Next-generation miners tested in old-school methods Engineering and geology students will dig, pan and muck their way across Langley Park in Perth, WA, this weekend in the 2025 AusIMM Asia Pacific Mining Games Competition. This year’s games, formerly known as the National Mining Games Competition, will be the biggest in the event’s history, with 34 teams from 14 student chapters of AusIMM competing in a series of challenges based on old-school techniques. The games will also go public for the first time, with the event held on Perth’s doorstep to...

Youanmi gold project advances Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) has made significant progress at its Youanmi gold project in WA with the completion of dewatering at the United North pit ahead of schedule. After obtaining major environmental approvals, the company is advancing its definitive feasibility study (DFS), evaluating mining works tenders and preparing for the commencement of underground mining. With pumping at United North finishing early, preparation works for the exploration decline are expected to commence in Q4 CY25. Rox Resources managing director Phill Wilding says seeing the initial plant layout following metallurgical results and confirming the company...

Aquila mine named innovation award finalist A breakthrough underground excavation guard at Anglo American’s Aquila coal mine has been named a finalist at the 2025 Prospect Awards. The new system — dubbed The Armadillo for its unique shield design and first-of-its-kind industry adaptability in Bowen Basin coal mines — has been recognised in the Innovative Mining Solution category for its use on the site near Middlemount, Queensland. Developed in partnership...

Queensland company wins Australia’s top safety innovation award INTELICS, a Queensland-based software company, has won the Safety Innovation Award at the Queensland Mining Industry Health & Safety Conference (QMIHSC) 2025. The award recognises its Contractor Management Platform (CMP), which is already transforming safety and contractor management across some of the country’s largest mining operations, as a game-changer for mining safety. CMP enables mining companies to gain real-time visibility of contractor competency, equipment compliance and proactive risk oversight — areas traditionally seen as high-risk in the resources sector — helping operations shift from reactive to proactive...

Weir advances sustainable tailings solutions Weir has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with MINEXXT to strengthen its global leadership in thickened and paste tailings solutions. Weir will integrate MINEXXT’s cutting-edge thickening technology, engineered to deliver high-performance thickened and paste tailings solutions, into its global tailings portfolio. This will enhance Weir’s ability to collaboratively meet the evolving needs of its customers with precision and confidence. Weird global tailing process director Erik Vlot says the value of this cooperation agreement lies in having access to exceptional, world class thickening technology....

Timor-Leste to host 5th Energy, Mining & Business Forum From November 24-26, 2025, Timor-Leste will take centre stage as it hosts the 5th Timor-Leste Energy, Mining & Business Forum — the country’s leading platform for advancing strategic investment and partnerships across its oil and gas, energy, mining and infrastructure sectors. This high-level summit is endorsed by the Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo I.P. (ANP) and the Autoridade Nacional dos Minerais (ANM) and organised in partnership with the Energy Circle and the Net-Zero Circle by IN-VR. Spanning three-days, the summit will welcome more than 300 global delegates, more than 50 international and local speakers and feature pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings, transforming Dili into a dynamic hub for deal-making, knowledge exchange and regional collaboration....

Fenix wins 290mt iron ore project Fenix Resources (ASX: FEX) has signed a 30-year agreement, for exclusive iron ore mining rights at the Weld Range project in WA, with Sinosteel Midwest Corporation.  The project, about 500km from Geraldton, hosts an iron ore grade of 56.8% and encompasses several high-grade hematite direct shipping ore deposits, including the premium Beebyn-W11 deposit with 20.5mt of ore at a grade of 61.3%.  Fenix executive chairman John Welborn says securing the project immediately surrounding the company’s existing operations in the Weld Range is a game changer.   “Development...

Critical battery breakthrough at Curtin A game-changing technology delivering greener and faster production of a critical battery material has been awarded at the 2025 Curtinnovation Awards.   The winner of the events major prize, the Griffith Hack Overall category, was the Curtin Carbon Group for RapidGraphite which uses a new method to create synthetic graphite — a key component of lithium-ion batteries.  The technology uses catalytic processing and renewable waste carbon such as woodchips, agricultural waste or even plastics to sustainably produce high-performance graphite without  conventional mining or energy-intensive refining.  Curtin University...