The Rock Wrangler - The Rock Wrangler

Betting the deep as polymetallic nodules emerge as a billion dollar play to fuel batteries steelmaking and the critical minerals transition

It takes a certain type of confidence to suggest the future of clean energy metals might lie four kilometres below the Pacific Ocean – confidence, and perhaps a streak of stubbornness.

By Jamie Wade on March 7, 2026
ESG, Environmental Impact Assessments, Regulatory Adherence, Sustainable Practices, Extraction, Mineral Extraction, Resource Sustainability, Reserve Estimation, Innovation, Technology Adoption, Process Innovation, Collaboration with Research Institutions, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation, Mines & Projects, Project Overviews, Development Stages
North America, United States, Oceania, Asia, Indonesia, Japan
Base Metals, Copper, Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt

Why stable jurisdictions, faster permits and clear rules are winning the global mining investment race

The annual temperature check from the Fraser Institute has landed — and while the rocks haven’t moved, capital certainly has.

Gold fever, tin whispers and rare earth reality checks

If you wanted a temperature check on Western Australia’s exploration sector last week, you didn’t need a feasibility study.

Mining’s next bottleneck isn’t in the ground – it’s in the policy inbox

At first glance, the WA Mining Club’s Market Outlook Luncheon at Optus Stadium looked like it would follow a familiar script.

AI isn’t the risk in mining. Inconsistent capability is and the technology is already exposing where systems and judgement fall short

AI isn’t the risk in mining.

Mining just got complicated – diggers are now diplomats data wranglers and nation builders whether they like it or not

There was a time when mining’s job was simple: dig it up, ship it out, repeat.

Mining’s energy bill just met its match as digital twins AI and regenerative drives unlock the kind of savings that turn control rooms into profit engines

If you still think “energy recovery” belongs in the sustainability chapter of the annual report, Rockwell Automation would like a quiet word – preferably from inside a control tower humming with AI, digital twins and enough conveyor simulations to make your GPU blush.

Contractors strike gold as profit sharing reshapes the rules of mining and turns service providers into project partners

Australia’s contract mining sector is undergoing a quiet revolution—one that could fundamentally reshape the relationship between contractors and mine owners.

Smart rocks and sharper minds how Australia’s data-driven explorers are redefining rare earth and vanadium discovery for the clean energy future

If you thought mining was all about brute force and big rigs, think again.

Vanadium steps into the spotlight as Queensland’s Lindfield Project fuels Australia’s clean energy charge with geology logistics and battery power to match

When it comes to the energy transition, not all batteries come wrapped in lithium.