US Department of Energy is offering up to $65.5 million in cost-shared funding for projects that convert stranded, flared or contaminant-limited oil and gas streams into high-value, transportable products and field-test modular gas conversion and sour gas processing units in active basins. Additional funding targets advanced materials and equipment—compressors, valves, piping, storage tanks, coatings and alloys—to cut product losses and harden midstream infrastructure. A third track backs digital twins, continuous monitoring and full-scale smart test sites to optimise upstream and midstream operations, building on a separate $150 million programme for unconventional reservoirs and hydraulic fracture characterisation.

Costa Rica’s President Laura Fernández is pushing Bill 24.717 to reopen the Crucitas gold deposit by allowing metallic mining only within the 84,800-hectare Cutris de San Carlos district, while keeping the national open-pit metal mining ban elsewhere. The bill proposes public auctions run by the Directorate of Geology and Mines, minimum 5% gross-sales royalties and strict technical, financial and environmental pre-qualification, aiming to displace mercury- and cyanide-based illegal mining. Analysts warn that investor interest will hinge less on Crucitas’ mid-sized geology and more on territorial control, gold traceability and long-term ESG and legal stability.

Queensland’s Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last has ordered a full review of the state’s Financial Provisioning Scheme (FPS), aiming to strip out what he calls “unnecessary barriers” to new mining investment while retaining strict environmental bonding. Announced at the Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME) 2026 in Mackay, the review targets how rehabilitation securities are calculated and held for large projects, which currently tie up substantial capital on balance sheets. Any FPS redesign will directly affect project financing structures, mine closure planning and risk pricing for both greenfield and brownfield operations in the state.