Swiss Federal Railways has awarded an Implenia/Marti 50:50 joint venture five of six MehrSpur Zurich–Winterthur lots worth just under CHF 1.7 billion, including the 8.3 km Brüttener tunnel (Lot 240) with twin 10 m diameter single-track tubes and a 1 km spur to Zurich Airport. TBM excavation will start in August 2029, with a roughly ten-year construction phase using BIM for planning and execution and extensive special foundations, earthworks and embankments. Additional works cover full redevelopment of Dietlikon station, about 6 km of new track across Dietlikon and Wallisellen sections, multiple underpasses, bridges and the Neumühle railway bridge and Storchen underpass near Winterthur.

Gamuda Engineering has secured the Sydney Metro Stations Package West as principal contractor, covering design and construction of five new underground stations at Westmead, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock and The Bays on the 24km Sydney Metro West line between Greater Parramatta and the CBD. The scope includes deep station boxes, entrances and access points, full station fit-out and integration with surrounding precincts, with Laing O’Rourke and DT Infrastructure joining as MetroVista delivery partners. Site works are scheduled to start on Monday, 5 January 2026.

USA Rare Earth Inc has appointed Fluor Corp and WSP Global Inc as EPCM partners to advance the definitive feasibility study for its Round Top rare earth project in Texas, targeting heavy rare earths and critical magnet materials. The mandate covers process plant, mine infrastructure and associated large-scale infrastructure delivery, drawing on Fluor’s mining and processing design capability and WSP’s experience in complex project execution. For geotechnical and civil teams, early EPCM involvement signals imminent definition of pit design, waste storage, haul roads and water management concepts ahead of permitting and financing.

CIMIC Group subsidiaries Sedgman and Leighton Asia have secured separate contracts from Hindustan Zinc Limited to help deliver India’s first zinc tailings recycling facility at the Rampura Agucha Mine in Rajasthan. Sedgman will focus on process plant and tailings treatment infrastructure, while Leighton Asia will provide project delivery and construction services for the brownfield site. The project signals large-scale reprocessing of legacy zinc tailings at one of the world’s largest zinc operations, with implications for paste backfill design, tailings storage stability and metal recovery circuits.

Exploration activity across Australia this week includes Argent Minerals reporting high-grade silver intercepts at its Kempfield project in New South Wales, with mineralisation extending along strike from existing volcanogenic massive sulphide-style resources. Kalamazoo Resources advanced drilling at its gold targets in the Pilbara and Central Victorian Goldfields, focusing on structurally controlled lodes near historic workings and testing down-dip extensions below old stopes. Adelong Gold continued resource-definition work at the Adelong project in NSW, targeting shear-hosted quartz veins to upgrade JORC classifications and refine pit and underground designs.

SMS Equipment has entered the European market by acquiring Suomen Rakennuskone Oy, Finland’s exclusive Komatsu dealer for mining and construction equipment, adding to its existing operations in Canada, Alaska and Mongolia. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Pirkkala, Suomen Rakennuskone runs branches in Kempele, Kuopio, Vantaa and near the Kevitsa mine, providing sales, maintenance, parts, training and technical support. The move gives SMS direct access to Finland’s nickel- and gold-dominated mining sector, with additional exposure to cobalt and lithium projects.

Construction has commenced on a new reinforced concrete replacement for the 1947 timber Rainbow Creek Bridge on Traralgon–Maffra Road between Cowwarr and Heyfield in regional Victoria. The project includes realignment of both road approaches to improve geometry and load performance compared with the ageing timber structure, which is likely constrained under current heavy vehicle configurations. For geotechnical and civil teams, key tasks will centre on new creek-crossing foundations, approach embankment works and managing construction staging to maintain regional traffic connectivity.

Thames Water has begun procurement for a £5.7bn design-and-build contract to deliver the proposed Abingdon strategic reservoir in Oxfordshire, covering full design, construction, testing and commissioning under a single main contractor. The utility describes the selection as an “extensive” multi-stage process, signalling a long lead-in for bidders needing capability in large earthworks, major water-retaining structures and complex commissioning. For civil and geotechnical contractors, the scale and integrated scope point to significant opportunities in reservoir embankment design, seepage control and long-term performance monitoring systems.

SMS Equipment is entering the European market by acquiring Suomen Rakennuskone Oy, a major Finnish distributor of Komatsu construction and mining equipment with an established service network across Finland. The deal adds European coverage to SMS Equipment’s existing operations in Canada, Alaska and Mongolia, giving miners a single dealer group spanning Arctic, sub-Arctic and boreal conditions. For mine operators, the move could simplify fleet standardisation, parts logistics and maintenance planning for Komatsu haul trucks and excavators across multiple cold-climate jurisdictions.

National Grid has lodged four planning applications to upgrade the high‑voltage transmission route between Pentir, near Bangor, and Trawsfynydd in north‑west Wales, a key corridor for moving power from existing and planned generation in Snowdonia. The works are expected to involve reinforcement of existing 400kV infrastructure, substation modifications and associated civil works along the existing wayleave rather than a completely new route. Geotechnical and civil teams should anticipate foundation strengthening, access upgrades and construction phasing constraints on an energised strategic asset.

Sandvik has secured a SEK417 million (~$46 million) order from The Redpath Group to supply underground mining equipment for Evolution Mining’s Cowal Gold Operations in New South Wales, covering load-and-haul, development and production drilling fleets. The package includes a Rhino 100 mobile raiseboring machine, signalling a push towards faster slot-raise development compared with conventional longhole methods. For mine planners and contractors, the deal points to continued investment in high-productivity underground fleets at Cowal as it expands below the existing open pit.

South32 is funding a US$35 million work programme at the high-grade Arctic polymetallic deposit in Alaska’s Ambler district through its 50:50 Ambler Metals joint venture with Trilogy Metals, within the 1,900 km² Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects that also host the Bornite copper deposit. The 2026 field season will focus on geotechnical and condemnation drilling at Arctic to refine mine design, infrastructure siting and long-term production planning, while upgrading the Bornite camp for multi‑year operations. South32 has also sold about US$17.8 million of Trilogy shares to the US Department of War, giving Washington a 10% stake ahead of a planned independent JV management team and intensified permitting and technical studies.

Homes England has signed a building lease with Vistry to redevelop Birmingham’s decommissioned City Hospital site into 750 homes, including 698 new-build units and 52 one- and two-bedroom apartments within the converted former infirmary, with 35% of the scheme designated as affordable housing. Asbestos removal began in December 2025, with major demolition of most existing hospital structures to follow and main construction scheduled for the second half of 2026. First completions are targeted for early 2027, turning a complex brownfield healthcare estate into a dense, mixed-tenure urban neighbourhood with some commercial uses.

Westmorland & Furness Council has appointed Muse Places, working through the ECF partnership with Homes England and Legal & General, as development partner for Barrow’s Marina Village, a waterfront neighbourhood planned for around 1,350 homes plus a nature conservation area and public open space. Phase one remediation of six hectares, funded by £5.5m from the Getting Building Fund, finished in November 2023, while phase two is remediating a further 19 hectares with £24.8m BIL funding, including realignment of Cavendish Dock Road, utilities diversion/protection and temporary relocation of a council waste depot. Planning approval for phase three, which will unlock a further 16% of the site once biodiversity net gain credits are agreed, and the new pre-development agreement will lead into a full master development agreement covering design, infrastructure phasing and funding.

Contracts signed by Southwark Council with Wates Residential and Mount Anvil will deliver at least 1,149 new homes across eight infill and estate sites in Peckham, Camberwell, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey. Wates will build a minimum of 343 homes on Gloucester Grove, Bells Gardens, Lindley Estate and Wyndham Road, all classed as affordable, including at least 131 new council units. Mount Anvil will deliver at least 786 homes at Seven Islands Leisure Centre, Red Lion Boys Club, Priter Road and Beormund School, with a minimum 50% affordable and at least 229 council homes.

Westminster City Council has agreed a £229m budget with McLaren Construction for phase two of the Ebury Bridge regeneration in Knightsbridge and Belgravia, covering three independent and two adjoined residential blocks that required four separate building safety applications to the Building Safety Regulator. The wider scheme will deliver 779 homes across three phases, including 373 for social rent, with phase two adding 334 units, 228 of them for social rent, plus reinstated Ebury Bridge Road retail frontage and new commercial premises. McLaren will use prefabricated façade elements to cut material movements, with main construction starting later in 2025 and completion scheduled for May 2029.

Zenzic Capital and Jensco have launched a UK single-family rental platform by forward funding 125 new-build Vistry homes at the Great Haddon scheme in Peterborough, backed by an initial £31m investment. Construction of the purpose-built rental units is due to start later this year, with Vistry using its partnership model to deliver professionally managed, higher energy-performance homes for strong local demand. The Zenzic-Jensco venture targets a portfolio of around 1,000 homes, signalling growing institutional capital flows into single-family build-to-rent product.

Engineering and design firm Cowi has been appointed by the European Investment Bank to advise the Irish government on a nationwide district heating strategy expected to support up to €4bn (£3.5bn) of heat network infrastructure by 2035. The mandate will shape technical standards, phasing and financing for multiple urban heat networks, likely integrating waste heat, large-scale heat pumps and thermal storage into existing gas- and electricity-dominated systems. Civil and energy engineers should expect demand for detailed network routing, trench design, and interface works with dense urban utilities and building retrofit programmes.

Energy Fuels’ proposed acquisition of Australian Strategic Materials, owner of the Dubbo rare earths and critical minerals project in New South Wales, signals accelerating competition for advanced projects ahead of 2026. Iluka Resources is progressing its Eneabba rare earths refinery in Western Australia, designed to process monazite concentrate from its Eneabba mineral sands operations into separated oxides. Other 2026‑watch projects include Arafura Rare Earths’ Nolans in the NT, Hastings’ Yangibana in the Gascoyne, and Lynas’ Kalgoorlie cracking and leaching plant, all targeting neodymium–praseodymium supply.

Two major Victorian road intersection projects are advancing, with Fulton Hogan awarded the Henderson Road–Ferntree Gully Road upgrade in Knoxfield and an $83.5 million contract let for the Ballan Road intersection in Melbourne’s west. Works will reconfigure both intersections to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion while adding safer walking and cycling movements through new signalisation and layout changes. Civil contractors can expect significant pavement reconstruction, drainage adjustments and staged traffic management on constrained urban corridors.

The Worley Arcadis Joint Venture has secured the marine technical advisory contract for Western Australia’s Westport programme, one of the state’s largest infrastructure undertakings centred on a new container port and associated road and rail links in Kwinana. The JV will advise on channel alignment, berth layout, breakwaters and dredging strategies, feeding into detailed planning for deep-water access and long-term port capacity beyond Fremantle’s current constraints. Geotechnical, coastal and structural inputs from this work will strongly influence reclamation design, ground improvement requirements and future marine construction methodologies.

Validation test work at Fortune Minerals’ NICO project in Canada’s Northwest Territories has confirmed production of battery grade cobalt sulphate heptahydrate using an optimised, simplified hydrometallurgical flowsheet with good metal recoveries, aimed at curbing capital and operating cost escalation. The planned development combines an open pit and underground mine plus concentrator feeding a dedicated refinery in Alberta to produce cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots and copper cement, underpinned by 1.1 million in-situ oz of gold. Funding includes C$7.5 million from Natural Resources Canada and US$6.38 million from the US Department of Defense.

Huws Gray has taken over the former Thornbridge timber merchant site in Ayr from the administrators of National Timber Group, relaunching it as a dedicated timber merchanting branch and securing the existing jobs. The move follows recent investment in Huws Gray’s flagship timber mill in Grangemouth and is part of a strategy to expand timber capabilities across Scotland, with further recruitment planned. The Ayr branch, still managed by Lynne Douglas, will retain local supply relationships while progressively widening its timber and related product range over the coming months.

Herefordshire Council has awarded M Group Highways a public realm services contract from June 2026, replacing Balfour Beatty for highway maintenance, drainage, street lighting, winter maintenance and associated public realm tasks. The council will internalise asset management, network management, highways inspections, design and project management, customer services and fleet management, with M Group paid on specified work at agreed rates rather than a fully outsourced model. Locality stewards will transfer from Balfour Beatty to the council, inspecting roads and defining work packages for the new contractor, tightening client control over scope and spend.

Graham Interior Fit-Out has secured the multi-million pound principal contract to refurbish the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park estate in Epsom, a 350-acre green belt site with a Grade II Listed main house and multiple listed outbuildings. The programme covers upgrades to 21 bedrooms and corridors, full bathroom refurbishments, new finishes and fixtures, and reconfiguration of the main entrance and reception areas. Scope also includes masonry, roofing and window restoration, landscaping and car park works, plus installation of EV charging points, requiring careful coordination of heritage fabric repairs with modern services integration.

JCB has secured a US$205m contract to supply the US Marine Corps with 535 militarised JCB 437HT wheeled loaders under the TRAM (Tractor, Rubber Tired, Articulated-Steering Multi-Purpose) vehicle programme, with test units due this year and full production from 2027. The deal follows a US$45m order for militarised 4CX backhoe loaders and a US$39m contract for Teleskid-based multi terrain loaders agreed earlier in 2024. For civil and military engineers, the repeat orders signal long-term fleet commonality and parts support for JCB heavy equipment in expeditionary earthmoving roles.

Brazilian Nickel has signed a non-binding offtake MOU with US-based Westwin Elements to supply up to 10,000 tpa of nickel and 240–400 tpa of cobalt in Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate from the Piauí laterite heap leach project in Brazil, produced via its low-CO2 process. Westwin plans to refine the MHP into class 1 nickel powder and briquettes within the United States for advanced manufacturing and defence applications, supporting US refining capacity. The deal also underpins funding for Brazilian Nickel’s Piauí development alongside existing European offtake agreements with Electro Mobility Materials Europe and Königswarter & Ebell.

USA Rare Earth will build a 3,750 tpa rare earth metal and alloy plant in Lacq, France, co-located with Carester’s 1,600 tpa Caremag oxide processing facility due for commissioning in late 2026, creating an integrated European processing platform. The French government will part-fund the project with equipment credits covering up to 45% of eligible kit and up to €130 million for real estate. The plant extends USAR’s mine-to-magnet chain anchored by the Round Top deposit in Texas and its 28,800 m² magnet plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Programmed has secured a contract with Pilbara Minerals (PLS) to provide village management services at the Pilgangoora lithium operation in Western Australia’s Pilbara, billed as the world’s largest independent hard-rock lithium mine. The partnership covers support for daily life in remote workforce villages, including accommodation, catering and facilities management for fly-in fly-out crews. For mine operators, the move signals further outsourcing of non-core site services at large-scale lithium projects to specialist camp and village providers.

Goldman Sachs will acquire not only Mace Group’s consultancy arm but also the Mace brand, meaning Mace Construct will adopt a new name once the transaction completes and Mace Consult becomes an independent organisation in January under CEO Davendra Dabasia. The construction contracting business, which grew from a 1990 boutique consultancy into a major London contractor delivering complex schemes, will co-create its new identity with staff, clients, suppliers and partners through 2026. For now, both units continue trading as Mace Construct and Mace Consult.

Strabag UK has acquired the assets of Gunning Transmission & Distribution Services (GTDS) from Ethical Power Group to accelerate its move into regulated high-voltage transmission and commissioning work in the UK and Ireland. GTDS, which will continue operating from its Stafford offices, has grown turnover from £16m in 2022 to £96m in the year to August 2024, bringing an established client base and specialist HV installation capability. The deal gives Strabag in-house expertise for power infrastructure programmes linked to upgrading and modernising the UK electricity network.

A seven-figure equity injection from the Development Bank of Wales’ Wales Business Succession Fund has financed a management buy-out of Cardiff-based DRAC Consulting, securing 20 building services engineering jobs. The deal transfers ownership to 34-year-old managing director Lewis Doherty, a former junior electrical engineer and son of co-founder Carl Bassett, with SME Finance Partners’ Chris Thomas becoming non-executive chair. Founded in 2009, DRAC delivers mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) design and supervision for local authorities, housing associations, health boards and private developers.

Construction of HS2’s 10-mile (16 km) twin-bore Chiltern tunnel has finished, with five ventilation and access shafts sunk to depths of up to 78 m and 40 cross passages now complete, allowing rail systems installation to begin. Align JV – Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and Volker Fitzpatrick – drove two 2,000-tonne TBMs from near the M25 at Maple Cross at an average 16 m/day, breaking through near Great Missenden in early 2024. The tunnel, HS2’s longest and second structurally complete twin-bore, now moves into track, overhead line and MEP fit-out despite the wider project’s delays and cost overruns.

Morgan Sindall Construction has started a £68.7m refurbishment of Hackney’s Grade II-listed Kings Hall Leisure Centre, originally opened in 1897, under the Southern Construction Framework. Works include retaining the existing large pool while adding a second full-size pool and a smaller teaching pool, plus a double-height sports hall, extended gym and studio spaces, and a fully accessible new entrance from Clapton Square. FaulknerBrowns Architects and Alan Baxter Civil & Structural Engineering are leading design, with completion targeted for autumn 2028 and careful retention of the historic façade, glazed brickwork and balustrades.

Brightstar Resources is upgrading its legacy Beta mill near Laverton into a 1.5 Mtpa gold processing hub, targeting ore from its Cork Tree Well, Menzies and Laverton projects in Western Australia’s north-eastern Goldfields. The refurbishment includes modern gravity and CIL circuits, new crushing and screening equipment, and structural repairs to the existing plant rather than a greenfield build. For mine planners and process engineers, the hub-and-spoke model reduces haul distances to a central mill and enables staged feed blending from multiple open pits and underground sources.

Early works on the Dunheved Road Upgrade in New South Wales will start this month after Penrith City Council appointed Georgiou Group to deliver the project. The upgrade targets safety and capacity on a key east–west arterial linking Werrington Road and Richmond Road, improving access to the Dunheved industrial area and the broader Penrith region. Early activities are expected to focus on service relocations, traffic management setup and site establishment, setting constraints for later pavement widening, intersection upgrades and drainage improvements.

Tivan Limited has completed acquisition of the Molyhil tungsten–molybdenum project in the Northern Territory, positioning it as a core feed source for its planned central Australian critical minerals hub. The company is integrating Molyhil with its existing Speewah vanadium–titanium–iron project and the TIVAN hydrometallurgical process, which targets higher recoveries from complex ores than conventional roasting–leaching flowsheets. Concentrate from remote mine sites is expected to be trucked to a central processing facility, shifting value-add and permitting focus from multiple pit locations to a single downstream plant.

BHP has lifted the total investment estimate for Stage 1 of its Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan to US$8.4 billion, including contingencies, after completing a detailed review of cost and schedule. First production has reverted to the original 2026 timetable, reversing earlier expectations of an accelerated start-up. The update signals higher upfront capital intensity for the underground potash mine and associated processing plant, with implications for contractor demand, shaft and hoisting infrastructure, and long-lead materials procurement in the Canadian prairies.

The Canadian Infrastructure Bank is shifting its C$18 billion mandate towards critical minerals, starting with a C$55 million bridge loan and a potential C$500 million follow-on facility for Torngat Metals’ C$2 billion Strange Lake rare earths project in remote Nunavik, Quebec. The bank plans to co-invest in transport and power infrastructure and may use contracts for difference and offtake-backed structures to de-risk revenue for feasibility-stage projects across Canada’s 34 listed critical minerals. Memoranda of understanding in Manitoba, British Columbia’s Golden Triangle and Saguenay target integrated road, rail, port and industrial hub planning with Indigenous and provincial partners.

Construction of Sibanye-Stillwater’s Keliber integrated lithium project in Finland remains on schedule for Q1 2026 completion, with total capex for the construction phase estimated at about €783 million. The mine-to-market operation is designed to produce roughly 15,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate for more than 18 years and is classified by the EU as a strategic project under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Sibanye and 20% partner Finnish Minerals Group will adopt staged commissioning of the mine, concentrator and refinery to reduce ramp-up risk and defer refining capex in response to lithium market conditions.

Montage Gold has brought forward first gold pour at its Koné open-pit project in Côte d’Ivoire by six months to Q4 2026, with construction 63% committed on a US$545 million budget and targeting average production of about 301,000 oz. per year over the first eight years of a 16-year mine life. Key plant and infrastructure milestones include erection of all 14 carbon-in-leach tanks, delivery of the ball mill, completion of an oxide sizer, a new airstrip and a 33 kV camp power line, plus ongoing 225 kV substation and transmission tower works. A $16 million, 99,000-metre drilling programme in 2026, including work on the Wendé property and higher-grade satellites such as Petit Yao, aims to upgrade resources beyond the current 269 million indicated tonnes at 0.63 g/t (5.49 Moz) ahead of full ramp-up.

The UK’s 10-year infrastructure strategy, new industrial strategy and refreshed national pipeline set out a major ramp-up in public works, but delivery is being constrained by planning delays, skills shortages and fragmented procurement. ICE’s Lighthouse initiative focuses on practical fixes such as standardising design components across road and rail projects, accelerating Development Consent Order decisions, and using alliancing contracts to cut interface risk on complex multi-phase schemes. For engineers, the message is to design for repeatability, plan early for consenting and utilities, and structure contracts to manage long supply chains.

Midana Exploration (Hancock Prospecting) and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) have formally received five Round 9 exploration licences in the Nabita Ad-Duwayhi gold belt at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh on 14 January 2026, cementing their Saudi joint venture. The licences cover greenfield gold targets in a known mineralised corridor, signalling a pipeline of drilling, resource definition and geometallurgical testwork in the Arabian Shield under Saudi Arabia’s new mining code.

A £130m planning application has been lodged with Trafford Council for a 2.7‑mile Carrington relief road linking north Partington to the Carrington Spur near Ashton on Mersey, using an existing former petrochemical site road for almost half its length. The Amey-designed scheme under the One Trafford Partnership with Balfour Beatty includes six new signalised junctions, three ponds for habitat and drainage, and segregated walking and cycling space between Partington and Sale. Construction is expected to start in spring 2030 and finish in summer 2032, unlocking 5,000 homes and 350,000 m² of employment space by 2040.

AIM-listed labour subcontractor Hercules has been added to Balfour Beatty’s preferred supplier list for power transmission and distribution works, covering specialist substation, cable and civils labour. The move builds on Hercules’ 2025 acquisitions of Advantage NRG, which supplies linesmen for overhead transmission line construction and maintenance, and a 70% stake in Warrington-based Lyons Power Services, which provides commissioning engineers and power infrastructure services in the UK and overseas. Hercules plans to deploy these capabilities into Balfour Beatty projects as UK grid investment accelerates over the next decade.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram has outlined a £2bn Housing Pipeline of 310 sites for 64,044 homes, including 31,264 units on 71 sites in Liverpool, backed by a recent £700m allocation for new social and affordable housing. The combined authority will vote on 23 January on approving the pipeline, creating a Housing Investment Fund to support 139 financially unviable projects needing around £1bn of subsidy, and establishing a mayoral development corporation initially focused on the North Docks. Joint work with Homes England, including a £1.3m programme across six councils and a new LCR Developer Forum launching on 5 February, aims to unlock stalled brownfield schemes constrained by rising build costs, higher borrowing and tighter regulations.

Golding Contractors has secured a 5.5‑year Mining Services Agreement worth about A$750 million with TEC Coal at Stanwell’s Meandu coal mine in Queensland, starting January 2026 after a six‑month mobilisation. The contract covers overburden removal, coal mining, and associated services at the open‑cut operation that supplies the 1,460 MW Stanwell Power Station. For geotechnical and mine planners, the long tenor and scale signal sustained demand for large truck–shovel fleets, pit sequencing, and dump design in the Surat Basin coal measures.

Macmahon Holdings’ subsidiary Decmil has secured a A$120 million Western Hill contract from Rio Tinto for the West Angelas Sustaining Project (WASP) in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The scope covers a new heavy haulage road, light vehicle access roads and associated drainage, forming key surface infrastructure for ongoing iron ore operations. Geotechnical and civil design will need to address Pilbara haul truck axle loads, segregation of LV/HV traffic, and high-intensity cyclone rainfall in road formation, culvert sizing and erosion control.

Hancock Prospecting has secured a successful bid for five mineral exploration licences in Saudi Arabia, partnering with a local company to enter one of the world’s most active greenfield exploration jurisdictions. The licences give Gina Rinehart’s group a platform to test iron ore and other commodity potential in the Arabian Shield, a Precambrian terrane already hosting major gold and base metal deposits. For geologists and mine planners, the move signals growing Australian involvement in Saudi projects where state-backed infrastructure and permitting can accelerate drilling and resource definition.

Maaden will invest US$110 billion over the next decade to triple its phosphate and gold output and double aluminium production, centred on eight megaprojects including the US$22.7 billion Wa’ad Al Shamal phosphate complex and its US$7.7 billion Phosphate 3 expansion due in 2027. Current capacity stands at about 500,000 oz. gold and 7 million tonnes per year of phosphate and aluminium, with phosphate output from Wa’ad Al Shamal and Ras Al Khair alone rated at 6 million tonnes per year. The build-out will drive major new pipelines, ports and rail links in Saudi Arabia and deepen processing partnerships with both MP Materials/US DoD and Chinese firms.