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The state government of Western Australia (WA) has launched a substantial A$150m ($97.5m) support package to bolster its lithium sector, which supplies around half of the global lithium market. 

This move is in response to recent drops in lithium prices that have affected local jobs and operations. 

The package includes fee waivers and a loan facility aimed at maintaining the state's leading position in the battery metals industry.  

To counteract the challenges, the state government has introduced measures to support the sector over the next two years, anticipating a price recovery. 

Government trading enterprises such as DevelopmentWA, Synergy and Water Corporation will waive fees related to downstream lithium processing. 

This support, as part of the Lithium Industry Support Programme, is estimated to reach a value of A$90m over a two-year period. 

In addition to processing support, the programme will provide relief to lithium miners by waiving port charges and mining tenement fees. 

An A$50m loan facility is also part of the package, offering interest-free loans to lithium miners.

Fortescue has awarded a contract worth more than $400m (2.9bn yuan) to Chinese heavy machinery manufacturer XCMG to supply more than 100 pieces of zero-emissions heavy mobile equipment. 

The contract, XCMG's largest outside China for mining equipment, will include the delivery of battery-electric wheel loaders, wheel dozers, water carts, float prime movers and graders to Fortescue's Pilbara operations by 2030. 

The deployment of this zero-emissions equipment is expected to eliminate millions of litres of fossil fuels from Fortescue's iron ore operations over the assets' life cycle. 

Fortescue Metals CEO Dino Otranto, alongside XCMG Chairman Yang Dongsheng, announced the partnership at Bauma China. 

The first pieces of equipment are due to be operational by 2026, marking a significant step in Fortescue's decarbonisation efforts. 

Recently, Fortescue expanded its partnership with equipment-maker Liebherr via a $2.8bn (A$4.07bn) deal to co-develop and validate a zero-emission mining fleet.

Native Mineral Resources (NMR) has announced that it is expediting the revival of gold mining at its Queensland sites, following the acquisition of the Far Fanning and BlackJack gold deposits for A$18.9m ($12.3m) in November.  

This strategic move is expected to bolster NMR's production capabilities and resource growth prospects and offer an accelerated path to production. 

The company's recent selective sampling at Far Fanning yielded high-grade gold results of up to 85.1 grams per tonne (g/t) and 45 samples assaying more than 0.5g/t. 

In response, NMR has commenced drilling to enhance the deposit's inferred mineral resource estimate of 2.3 million tonnes at 1.84g/t of gold, equating to 138,000oz, to an indicated status. 

Mining Associates has been appointed to manage the drilling programme and provide expert advice. In parallel with drilling, NMR is evaluating the BlackJack processing plant's infrastructure to decide between refurbishment or replacement to meet the company's gold production goals.

Spartan Resources has secured all regulatory approvals to transition its Dalgaranga gold project in WA from development to full-scale underground mining. 

The approvals, granted by the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and the Department of Water and Environment Regulation, pave the way for the commencement of underground ore extraction and the introduction of new processing equipment at the existing plant. 

The green light includes the installation and operation of a ball mill and pre-leach thickener, which are integral to the processing of the underground ores. Additionally, a paste plant will be established, utilising recovered tailings to create paste-fill, which will support the underground mining operations and optimise ore extraction on each level. 

The approvals also cover the re-mining of tailings from the decommissioned Gilbey’s tailings storage facility to serve as feedstock for the paste plant. Commissioned in 2018, the Dalgaranga project has been in care and maintenance since November 2022.

Legacy Minerals and its joint venture partner Earth AI have unearthed one of Australia’s largest palladium mineral systems utilising AI. 

This discovery was made near Wombat, in the Southwestern Slopes region of New South Wales (NSW), within the Lachlan Fold Belt’s Fontenoy project. 

It is said to be the first discovery of magmatic nickel, copper, and platinum group elements (PGEs) on Australia’s east coast and the first verified greenfield mineral discovery using AI.

Earth AI’s approach has revealed extensive mineralisation over a 2km² area, potentially making it the world’s largest PGEs prospect. 

The Fontenoy project’s potential was first identified by Earth AI in 2022, leading to a joint venture with Legacy Minerals. 

Following a discovery hole, Earth AI secured an 80% stake in the project in exchange for committing to A$4.5m ($2.9m) in development work.