Nexans, the worldwide cable industry major, has been awarded a major contract to supply power, control and instrumentation cables from its specialised POWERMINE range for Chinalco's new Mount Toromocho open pit copper mine in Peru. In cooperation with Anixter USA, its distribution partner for this project, Nexans is providing more than1,200 km of cables to the Aker/Jacobs Engineering turnkey EPC contractor for the mine, which is scheduled to begin production in 2012.

As a rapid use workshop maintenance or storage building Cocoon 365 is a new design of structure from Cocoon Architecture that can deploy repeatedly on mining and mineral exploration sites without the use of external contractors. Company founder Michael Brady originally designed the Cocoon 365 product initially as a permanent solution for event spaces. However, after studying the market for rapidly deployed structures and having teamed up with some mechanical engineers, the team realised that a design for a mobile Cocoon may be applicable to other sectors, including construction and mining.

Capital Drilling, the emerging and developing markets drilling company, has been awarded two further contract wins and extensions. Capital Drilling Mauritania has recently been awarded a new development drilling contract with Kinross Gold in Mauritania, which represents a further expansion of activity at the Tasiat gold mine, where Capital Drilling has been drilling since 2010.

Modular Mining Systems is a key member of the strategic alliance between Komatsu, Rio Tinto, and Modular, that is working to deliver the world's first large-scale commercial deployment of Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS). Following the November 1 agreement between Komatsu and Rio Tinto to implement 150 autonomous haul trucks by the end of 2015, Modular will assist in the implementation of the AHS at Rio Tinto's Yandicoogina mine in Western Australia.

According to a report in China's state-run news agency Xinhua, the country's first unmanned mining train has been produced at a factory in central China's Hunan Province. The train's transmission system features new intelligent control technology, according to Huang Guoxing, Chief Engineer with Hunan Xiangtan Hauling Machine Plant, where the locomotive was manufactured.

Tri-Mer Corporation, a provider of air pollution control systems and indoor air quality products, has introduced the Tri-Flow Environmental Control Booth, which is designed for plant areas where dirty and/ or noisy tasks need to be confined to their own workspace. The solution is applicable to mining equipment OEMs, rebuilders and mine maintenance shops as it is aimed at metalworking areas, particularly welding, plasma torch cutting, air arcing, sanding, grinding, chipping, and buffing. It is also described as highly effective for isolating processes such as powder coating, mixing and polishing.

Mineral process solutions provider Multotec is in the process of expanding extensively into other parts of the African continent and beyond. The company has recently established branches in Mozambique, Zambia and Ghana, with an agent in Zimbabwe and Thomas Holtz, Multotec CEO says business is "flourishing" in all these areas. He states: "Our growing branch infrastructure is helping us transition from pure equipment sales into the field service maintenance arena. Today we're in the business of delivering peace of mind - working closely with our customers to provide condition monitoring and process optimisation services for the lifetime of the equipment we supply. We stand by our product and staying with it in the field, ensures it provides a maximum return on investment to our customers."

AREVA announced on December 6 the creation of OSRA (Health Observatory for the region of Agadez). One year after setting up the Health Observatory of Mounana, Gabon, the new Agadez facility marks a forward stride in the process initiated in 2007 by AREVA and its partners.

As South African safety, health and environmental legislation continues to tighten, Weba Chute Systems reports increased interest in its bulk materials handling equipment, which significantly reduces noise and dust pollution and lowers energy consumption, while extending the traditional lifecycle of this category of equipment.

Outotec has strengthened its service offering in South East Asia by acquiring the furnace refractory demolition business of Kiln Services Australia on December 9, 2011. Outotec said that the acquisition supports its strategy "to expand its service offerings and complements Outotec's portfolio of shutdown services to the mining, metals processing and refractory industries." The acquired business is based on specialised robotic refractory demolition equipment and related know how. The equipment is used on a range of kilns including large rotaries employed in the cement, ferroalloys and other industries.

ABB has recently been contracted to supply gearless mill drive (GMD) systems for two 38 ft SAG mills at the Serra Azul iron ore mine in Brazil. The Serra Azul mine unit, owned by MMX Mineração e Metálicos, an EBX Group company, is located in the iron quadrangle of Minas Gerais near Belo Horizonte.

Energy Resources Australia (ERA), has selected brine concentrator technology from Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies to treat and reduce process water inventory from its Ranger uranium mine in Australia’s Northern Territory.