China backing Bannerman`s uranium mine 🇳🇦☢️🇨🇳

Who pays to build a mine these days? Increasingly, a government. A Chinese state-owned nuclear giant just paid Bannerman Energy (ASX:BMN) US $320 million for almost half of its uranium project in Namibia. The buyer will also take 60 per cent of the output for the life of the mine. The US did something similar last month, offering up to $400 million to build an Australian scandium mine, and taking first call on what comes out. That`s the pattern. Building a mine costs hundreds of millions, and lenders want certainty. Governments want the metal. So they pay in cash, and get paid in metal. Mining used to be about who owned the ground. Now it`s about who`s promised the output.

#mining #uranium #stocks #china #ASX

Rubicon Water (ASX:RWL) has been selected for a major irrigation modernisation project in Morocco, with a joint venture bid incorporating approximately A$12 million of Rubicon solutions chosen by Moroccan Government agency the Office Régional de Mise en Valeur Agricole du Tadla (ORMVAT).

💧 A$12m project selected: The project will modernise the main canals serving the 69,600-hectare Béni Moussa irrigation perimeter in Morocco’s Tadla region.
⚙️ Rubicon technology: The company will provide its Total Channel Control technology, automated canal regulation gates, communications infrastructure and NeuroFlo software platform, subject to formal contract execution.
📄 Contract process: The selection follows administrative, technical and financial assessments, with a statutory 15-day appeal period before the project is expected to proceed to formal contract execution.
“We are delighted that the joint venture bid incorporating Rubicon`s technology has been selected for this landmark project in Morocco.” – Bruce Rodgerson, Rubicon Water Chief Executive Officer

SCX.ai (ASX:SCX) has partnered with Decidr AI Industries (ASX:DAI) to strengthen sovereign AI capabilities in Australia. The partnership aims to help Australian enterprises protect their knowledge while running AI workloads domestically and cost-effectively.

💡 Customers can fine-tune models, with training, inference and storage kept within Australian jurisdiction
🇦🇺 SCX.ai is the Australian node in Decidr`s multi-jurisdiction sovereign inference architecture
🏦 Aligned with data-residency requirements across financial services, healthcare and government

Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA) Project Director Dean Fredericksen is speaking at Sydney Mining Club this October, sharing the drilling program and the path to development. Dean tells The Stock Network’s Lel Smits about the Maronan silver-lead and copper-gold deposit near Cloncurry in Northwest Queensland. With a 65Mt global resource, a 40,000m drilling program underway and a $22 million investment from Canada’s Kinterra Capital, Dean outlines the drilling program, de-risking strategy and path towards development of a potential long-life underground mine.

TSN interview:
🪓 Drilling and de-risking the deposit
⚒️ Path to Queensland`s next major underground mine

Register for SMC:
🗓 1 October 2026
📍 The Ivy - Ballroom

Healius (ASX:HLS) has agreed to sell wholly owned subsidiary Agilex Biolabs to Novotech for an enterprise value of A$160 million, with approximately A$155 million expected in net cash proceeds after separation and transaction costs.

🧬 A$160m sale agreed: The transaction values Agilex Biolabs at 19.8x FY26 EBITDA on a pre-AASB16 basis, with completion expected during the second half of Healius’ FY27, subject to conditions including FIRB and ACCC approval.
💰 Healius moves to net cash: The transaction is expected to deliver approximately A$155 million in cash proceeds, with Healius not expecting to incur tax on the sale. On completion, the company expects to be in a net cash position and will assess its capital requirements and use of proceeds closer to completion.
🏥 Focus returns to pathology: Agilex Biolabs operates as a standalone business, meaning the sale will not impact Healius’ Pathology operations. Management says the disposal will support greater focus on growing and improving its core pathology business, which provides diagnostic services across Australia.

“The sale provides customers and team members of Agilex Biolabs with the opportunity to join an established and global business in Novotech, which has expertise in providing services to major biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers.” – Paul Anderson, Managing Director & CEO

Why US Pentagon wants Sunrise`s scandium ⛏️

How can a mining company skyrocket in value without mining anything yet? That`s what is happening to Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX:SRL), which wants to mine scandium in central New South Wales. Its stock is up over 400% in a year.

Scandium is a metal you`ve probably never heard of. It makes aluminium lighter and stronger, and it goes into fuel cells that could power AI data centres. The whole world uses only a few dozen tonnes a year, and China makes more than 85 per cent of it.

The US Department of War offered up to $400 million to build Sunrise`s mine, and got first dibs on what comes out. Lockheed Martin took an option on a quarter of early production. That`s the thing about a story stock. The loan is conditional, the Lockheed deal is an option, and the mine isn`t built. But the market loves the future, and right now it`s betting that Sunrise keeps rising.

#mining #scandium #US #stocks #AI

Matsa Resources (ASX:MAT) received a $10 million deposit from AngloGold Ashanti following the early exercise of an option to acquire specific tenements within the Lake Carey Gold Project near Laverton, Western Australia.

💰 $10m deposit received: The payment follows the revised Tenement Option Agreement announced on 22 September 2026, under which AngloGold Ashanti agreed to acquire selected Lake Carey tenements for $55 million.
⛏️ Completion conditions progress: Matsa Resources has received ministerial consent, satisfying a significant condition precedent. A limited number of further conditions remain, including third-party consents for the assignment of contractual access rights linked to the sale assets.
📈 $45m still payable: The remaining $45 million is due at completion, scheduled for 15 business days after the final completion conditions are satisfied. Matsa Resources says it will update shareholders when the final payment is received. At that time, the company will also provide some guidance on where the proceeds of the sale will be directed.

Rick Rule is speaking at IMARC this October, sharing his outlook on the resource cycle and where he sees opportunities across gold, copper, oil, gas and uranium. Rick tells The Stock Network`s Lel Smits that gold remains a savings asset in the middle of a long bull market, copper faces a supply shortfall that will be "rationed by price" and years of underinvestment have set up a structural deficit in oil and gas.

TSN Interview:
🪙 Why gold weakness is a gift
🪓 Copper will be rationed by price
🛢️ Oil, gas and uranium and the energy opportunity
⚒️ What Rick Rule looks for in a mining stock

Register for IMARC:
🗓 27 - 29 Oct 2026
📍 ICC Sydney
⚡ Promo code "tsn15"
👉 https://imarcglobal.com/register