Geelong refinery fire forces output cuts

By Chloe Coutinho

Monday, 20 April 2026

NewsProjects & Operations

Viva Energy’s (ASX: VEA) Geelong refinery will operate at reduced capacity in the short term following a fire last week, with diesel, jet fuel and petrol production all impacted.

The MOU supports Metallium’s plan to develop a national network of e-waste processing facilities, strategically located near major e-waste collection hubs, rapidly expanding U.S. data centre industrial parks and regional industrial corridors with strong logistics and waste generation.

According to the Federal Government, the expansion could add an estimated $909m to the Pilbara’s gross regional product.

Federal Government backs Butcherbird

Federal Government backs Butcherbird The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) will invest up to $50m for Element 25’s (ASX: E25) Butcherbird manganese project in the Pilbara region of WA. This will support Element 25’s plans to expand Butcherbird’s production capacity to 1.1mtpa of manganese oxide concentrate. Butcherbird’s expansion will enable it to supply manganese concentrate feedstock for Element 25’s planned battery grade, high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) processing facility which it plans to build in Louisiana, US, as well as securing concentrate sales to other customers. NAIF’s support for the expansion follows Element 25’s awarding of a...

Recycling e-waste could meet a significant portion of global metal demand, supplying up to 10% of copper and 57% of palladium, while reducing reliance on mining and mitigating supply chain risks from unstable regions.

Successful recovery of tin and palladium from electronic waste

Successful recovery of tin and palladium from electronic waste MTM Critical Metals (ASX: MTM) has achieved successful results extracting metals from electronic waste (e-waste) using Flash Joule Heating (FJH). This expands the list of recoverable metals to gold, silver, copper, tin and palladium, confirming the versatility of FJH in efficiently extracting multiple metals from e-waste. This was achieved without the use of toxic acids, recovering approximately 86% of the tin and 82% of palladium content from printed circuit boards (PCBs), a common...

(Image source: CIMIC Group) In total, the contracts will provide approximately $150 million in revenue for UGL across multiple years.

UGL unlocks $150m in contracts

UGL unlocks $150m in contracts CIMIC Group company UGL has been awarded several new contracts and contract extensions with existing WA clients: Alcoa (ASX: AAI), bp, Chevron and Woodside (ASX: WDX). UGL has been awarded a contract with Chevron Australia for construction services, supporting the installation of modules, equipment, structure, piping and electrical and instrumentation works. Additionally, UGL has received an 11-month contract extension for the supply of services to Alcoa’s mining and refining operations in WA for the continued management and execution of mechanical, electrical and access services for maintenance work. UGL has also received...

UQ start-up unlocks copper

UQ start-up unlocks copper

UQ start-up unlocks copper Inaccessible supplies of an element crucial to powering a clean-energy future are set to be unlocked with technology developed by The University of Queensland (UQ). The technology, commercialised through new start-up company Banksia Minerals Processing (BMP), is a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way to extract copper from previously unviable low-quality resources. UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering metallurgy major lead and Hydrometallurgy Research Group head, Associate Professor James Vaughan says the technology reveals cleaner more efficient methods for processing copper concentrate....