Author: Samantha Bawden

Australia’s electricity market reliability improves The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released a report outlining the 10-year outlook on investments needed to maintain national electricity market reliability. Reflecting the positive investment momentum to meet growing demand and replace retiring energy generation, the 2025 Electricity Statement of Opportunities report shows improved reliability outlooks, reliant on all expected investments being delivered on time and in full. The report assesses reliability against two development outlooks: A government schemes and actionable developments reliability assessment, which reflects more than...

King pushes for domestic processing Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King has urged Australia to take a leading role in critical minerals and rare earths processing in the face of global uncertainty. In her speech to attendees at the Resources Technology Showcase, held in Perth this week, Minister King reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to growing the country’s critical minerals and rare earths sectors. “In the face of extraordinarily difficult international market conditions, some might say that taking up the challenge to compete in the mining, processing and refining of critical minerals and rare earths is...

EPA greenlights $4b Boodarie iron proposal The WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has approved the construction of Port Hedland Iron’s proposed hot briquetted iron plant. The Port Hedland Iron project — a collaboration between POSCO, Marubeni and China Steel Corporation — aims to decarbonise the steel manufacturing supply chain with production of low carbon hot briquetted iron. The proposal involves the development of a downstream processing facility in the Boodarie strategic industrial area (SIA) to produce iron pellets and about 2mt of hot briquette iron for export. EPA chair Darren Walsh says the location of the proposal, as well as its use...

Star’s exceptional shallow gold results Star Minerals (ASX: SMS) has received positive results from its first round of assay results for drilling at its Tumblegum South gold project in WA. The drilling program included 38 holes for a total of 2032m, 22 of which have been returned, interpreted and announced. Star Minerals managing director Ashley Jones says the company is pleased to see the quality of these first results from the project. “With the standout intercept so far being 5m at , Tumblegum South is proving to be an even stronger project, with a quality...

Bravus confident in Carmichael’s future Bravus Mining and Resources is investing $50m in expansion works to increase production at its Carmichael coal mine by a third over the next four years to 16mtpa. The investment will support expansion of the Carmichael workers village, a new water dam, the construction of a rail network maintenance hub, additional mine site infrastructure and engineering works. Bravus Mining and Resources chief operating officer Mick Crowe says the decision to export more coal from Carmichael will create hundreds...

Rare earths identified at Ironback Hill Magnetite Mines (ASX: MGT) has discovered near-surface clay hosted rare earth element (REE) mineralisation at its Ironback Hill project in South Australia. The identification of REE followed re-testing of limited clay rich samples from archived reverse circulation drill samples originally drilled by the company at the Ironback Hill deposit from 2011-2012. Magnetite Mines managing director Tim Dobson says the company has commenced a low-cost assessment of its vast South Australian tenement base for gold and critical minerals potential. “While the development of the Razorback iron ore project remains our...

Woodside backed hydrogen plant launched Yesterday, the WA Government opened the $16m Hydrilyte Technology pilot plant — offering the prospect of a safe and scalable way to transport hydrogen. The plant, operated by WA company Carbon 280 in Kwinana, uses its patented Hyridlyte Technology that uses a metal hydride suspended in a light mineral oil with a process that locks the hydrogen in a solid state within the liquid. The Hydrilyte and hydrogen solution can be stored indefinitely without loss and requires the process to be reversed to...

Automation driving global conveyor belt demand Increased emphasis on industrial automation and the rising integration of mechanised systems across diverse industries are driving rubber conveyor belt market growth. As companies focus on improving operational efficiency and reducing manual labour, the adoption of automated material handling solutions is accelerating. Rubber conveyor belts have become integral components across various industries and processes, offering flexibility, reliability and high performance in the handling of bulk materials and heavy loads. Industries, such as mining, construction, manufacturing, food processing and logistics, are increasingly deploying conveyor...

Weir developing new backfill technology Weir is collaborating with German company Schwing Stetter to develop an unrivalled hydraulic piston pump for backfill pumping applications. As part of this collaboration, Weir and Schwing are working together to share product and application knowledge to enhance the technology and deliver a solution to customers. Weir reported a growing demand for higher capacity pumps in line with mining  industry trends shifting towards higher production rates and lower ore grades which, by extension, is resulting in increased tailings volumes. As many above ground tailings storage facilities...

CPB’s Australian-first turbine prototype Earlier this year, CPB Contractors launched an Australian-first trial of a next-generation 6KW-rated prototype vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). The first-of-its-kind wind turbine was developed by Adelaide-based renewable energy technology start-up company, VAWT-X, in collaboration with Flinders University and Firestone Hybrid Generators with funding from private equity, state and federal governments. The prototype was installed on the South Australian Government’s Fleurieu Connections Alliance (FCA) main south road duplication project’s Aldinga compound in February and has been undergoing extensive operational testing...

Roy Hill’s mining leases under threat The WA Supreme Court has dismissed Roy Hill’s application to protect the ownership of two mining leases at its $12b Pilbara operation. The case, filed mid-2024, sought a declaration that two of its mining leases could not be impeached as long as they were the subject of a registered mortgage. Roy Hill previously applied for a new mining lease to cover operations in 2017 and protect the validity of operations. This followed Fortescue (ASX: FMG) founder and executive chairman Dr Andrew Forrest’s High Court campaign, lodged in 2013, to...