Post #4472730

'The $US400 million ($560 million) loan is intended to expand production at Sunrise Energy Metals’ Syerston Scandium Project near Fifield ... 'Last year, Sunrise announced a deal for US weapons contractor Lockheed Martin to buy up to 15 tonnes of scandium oxide over five years. '... nearly all [scandium] supply comes from China, Russia and Ukraine. 'The Pentagon said foreign competitors accounted for about 80 per cent of global scandium production and nearly 100 per cent of processing. 'Representatives of Australian mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto, who have proposed and planned an underground copper mine in Arizona ... forecast to meet about a quarter of US copper demand. 'Sunrise Energy Metals secured a $US67 million debt financing letter of interest from the US Export-Import Bank last year. 'The Syerston project is also benefiting from a program unveiled by the NSW government last month that allows it to defer royalty payments for five years. 'Another company, the Canada-listed, Nevada-headquartered Scandium International Mining Corp, is also developing a scandium mine near Nyngan, NSW and a nearby scandium exploration site known as Honeybugle'. https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/pentagon-ploughs-560-million-into-world-first-australian-mining-project-20260808-p60mjj.html