Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) shares are sinking today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium miner and diversified resources producer closed yesterday trading for $65.86. In late morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for $64.04 apiece, down 2.8%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.5% at this same time, while the S&P/ASX 200 Resource Index (ASX: XJR) is down 1.9%.

Despite today’s retrace, the Mineral Resources share price remains up an impressive 217.5% over the last 12 months, smashing the 2.5% one-year gains posted by the benchmark index.

Now, here’s what investors are mulling over today.

Mineral Resources shares slip amid closure update

In an update this morning deemed non-price sensitive to Mineral Resources shares, the miner reported that it is preparing to mothball its Western Australia-based Lucky Bay Garnet Project at the end of June.

The ASX 200 miner acquired Lucky Bay in September 2025 following an Asset and Share Sale Agreement with the administrators of Resource Development Group.

Today, management reported that fallout from the Middle East conflict has driven up costs, leading to their decision to shutter operations.

Mineral Resources stated:

The mine’s financial performance has been materially impacted by ongoing conflict in the Middle East, a region representing a significant proportion of Lucky Bay’s sales.

Combined with materially higher diesel and shipping costs, a strategic review of Lucky Bay has determined it is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to cease operations and transition the project into care and maintenance, effective 1 July 2026.

The closure will affect some 110 employees. The miner said they will be offered redeployment opportunities at other work sites where possible.

As for the financial impact on Mineral Resource shares, management said they will assess all future options for Lucky Bay. That includes a potential divestment of the garnet mine.

Mineral Resources expects to book a non-cash impairment on the written down value of Lucky Bay of approximately $40 million for FY 2026.

What else has been happening with the ASX 200 mining stock?

Among the tailwinds sending Mineral Resources shares soaring this past year is the rocketing lithium price.

On 18 May, this led the company to report that it was restarting operations at its Bald Hill lithium mine. The Western Australian lithium mine was placed in care and maintenance in November 2024 amid tumbling lithium prices at the time.

Commenting on the decision to restart Bald Hill, Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison said:

With strong and sustained demand for spodumene concentrate driving a significant recovery in prices, the time is right to restart operations at Bald Hill…

Once production resumes at Bald Hill, MinRes will be the only company globally operating three hard rock lithium mines, each with their own spodumene concentrate facilities.

The post Up 218% in a year, Mineral Resources shares sinking today amid mine closure news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

I’m sure most income investors dream of finding an ASX share with a big dividend yield and even bigger upside.

Well, Bell Potter thinks it has identified one this week.

Which ASX share?

This morning, Bell Potter has initiated coverage on Cash Converters International Ltd (ASX: CCV).

It provides unsecured lending and second-hand retail services in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other international markets.

At the last count, it was operating through a network of 197 corporate owned stores and 459 franchised stores.

Bell Potter is feeling positive on the company’s global growth outlook and highlights its better-quality loan book as a reason to be bullish. It said:

CCV has embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy, having bought back 120 franchises since FY21 across ANZ and the UK, with the company now controlling ~30% of the global Cash Converters branded store network. Each acquisition is accretive to the group, and we expect ~17 new store additions in the near-to-medium term (UK weighted) to add ~$5.3m in EBITDA pre-operational improvements, and a pipeline of 176 further global acquisitions identified, with management flagging Europe as the next expansion region.

The introduction of the new line-of-credit Cashies loan is progressively reshaping CCV’s loan book towards stronger credit quality customers, resulting in lower bad debt expense and improving Net Interest Margin’s (NIM), with the run-down loan book to be completed over the next 24-36 months.

Initiated with a buy rating

According to the note, the broker has initiated coverage on the ASX share with a buy rating and 34 cents price target.

Based on its current share price of 30 cents, this implies potential upside of 13% for investors over the next 12 months.

In addition, Bell Potter is forecasting fully franked dividends of 2 cents per share in FY 2026 and through to FY 2028. This equates to dividend yields of approximately 6.7%.

Commenting on its buy recommendation, the broker said:

We view CCV’s scale, global brand recognition and acquisition pipeline as competitive advantages that position its retail business to capitalise on growing demand for second-hand goods, supported by cost-of-living pressures and increasing consumer appreciation of the circular economy.

In consumer lending, we view the wind-down of legacy, lower-quality loan books as prudent, as it shifts portfolio exposure towards higher-quality borrowers with lower loss profiles and stronger margins, particularly as improved loan book quality supports a reduction in funding costs.

The post Top broker just put a buy rating on this ASX share with 6.7% yield appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Shares in Echo IQ Ltd (ASX: EIQ) shot up more than 50% to record highs in early trade after the company announced a strategic investment from and a US commercial partnership with major imaging technology company Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME).

Shares hitting new highs

Echo IQ shares hit a high of $1.87, up 50.8%, before settling back to be changing hands for $1.72, up 38.7% by mid-morning. The shares have increased from lows of 16.5 cents over the past 12 months.

The company said in a statement to the ASX that Pro Medicus had agreed to invest an initial $10 million in the company through a subscription for secured convertible notes, with the right to subscribe for a further $10 million once Echo IQ had its EchoSolv HF product cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration.

EchoSolv HF is an AI-powered heart failure detection software.

Pro Medicus has also agreed to become a reseller for EchoSolv, “providing potential access to an extensive network of leading US health systems, academic medical centres and enterprise healthcare customers”.

Echo IQ said regarding the deal:

The proposed partnership represents a significant strategic milestone for Echo IQ. Beyond the proposed investment, the arrangement has the potential to provide exceptional validation for Echo IQ and access to a leading healthcare technology platform with an extensive US based customer network, supporting the Company’s strategy to accelerate adoption of its AI-powered cardiac diagnostic solutions across the US. Pro Medicus is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most successful healthcare technology companies and a global leader in enterprise medical imaging software. Through its Visage platform, Pro Medicus provides mission critical imaging solutions to many of the largest health systems, academic medical centres and integrated delivery networks throughout the US.

Access to markets a key element of the deal

Echo IQ Chief Executive Officer Dustin Haines added:

The execution of this binding Heads of Agreement with Pro Medicus represents a transformational milestone for Echo IQ and a significant validation of both our technology and long-term commercial strategy, while also providing exceptional financial flexibility to accelerate our commercialisation activities in the US. Importantly, this proposed partnership extends far beyond the investment itself. Through Pro Medicus, we have the opportunity to leverage an established healthcare platform, trusted customer relationships and a highly experienced commercial organisation with deep penetration into the US healthcare market. We believe this creates a compelling pathway to accelerate awareness, adoption and commercialisation of EchoSolv across a broad range of healthcare providers.

RBC Capital Markets said in a note to clients that the deal was also positive for Pro Medicus, as “the deal delivers both an economic interest and a product that deepens its cardiology value proposition through the embedding of an AI diagnostic capability directly onto Visage”.

Pro Medicus shares were 1.6% higher at $181.95. RBC has a price target of $195 on the shares.

The post A deal with Pro Medicus has turned this ASX biotech into a 10-bagger, up more than 30% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has positions in Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.