The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price could be one to watch on Thursday after the gold miner released a big update before market open.

St Barbara shares finished flat at 73 cents apiece yesterday, but investors could have plenty to think about when trading gets underway this morning.

So, what has St Barbara announced?

St Barbara cashes in

According to the release, St Barbara has agreed to sell its remaining interest in the New Simberi Gold Project in Papua New Guinea to China’s Lingbao Gold Group.

Under the deal, the company will receive $410 million in cash when the transaction completes.

It will also receive another $43 million to repay its share of construction spending on New Simberi between April and signing.

However, St Barbara will still retain some exposure to the project.

The company will keep a 2.75% net smelter return royalty on future gold and silver production from New Simberi, along with a 1.5% royalty over minerals produced from the Tabar Islands exploration licences.

The transaction is expected to complete in the March quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Could shareholders get another big dividend?

There could be a pretty big payday coming for shareholders.

St Barbara had $427 million in cash at the end of August. After the sale completes, it expects to have around $880 million in cash and no debt.

The board is considering paying shareholders another fully franked special dividend of around 13 cents per share after completion.

That would come on top of the fully franked 5-cent dividend already declared in August, taking potential dividend returns to 18 cents per share.

Based on Wednesday’s 73-cent closing price, that is equal to almost 25% of the current share price.

The company is also considering an on-market share buyback of up to 100 million shares. A decision is expected after the 15-Mile Processing Hub pre-feasibility study update due around the end of September.

What does St Barbara look like after the sale?

Once Simberi is sold, St Barbara will be left with its Nova Scotia gold projects and the royalties from Simberi.

From there, the focus will be on restarting production at Touquoy by the end of 2026 and moving the 15-Mile Processing Hub towards a final investment decision (FID) by the end of FY27.

The Simberi royalty could still bring in plenty of cash too, with St Barbara estimating around $286 million over the current mine plan.

I think St Barbara is one to keep a close eye on in the coming weeks.

The post St Barbara share price on watch after a huge announcement appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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.

Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares are an attractive option for passive-income hunting investors.

The company generates a substantial cash flow from its large iron ore operations which means that when iron ore prices and production is strong, it can return a significant portion of its profits to shareholders through dividends.

Fortescue is also actively diversifying its business beyond iron ore and into other markets, such as copper and renewable energy, which could reduce its reliance on iron ore over the long term and strengthen its bottom line.

But what if you wanted to generate $1,000 of passive income from Fortescue shares every single month? Is it even possible? And if so, what would it entail?

Let’s investigate.

What’s the latest out of Fortescue shares?

At the time of writing, ASX mining shares are trading for $17.61 a piece. That’s about 21% lower year-to-date and a 6% decline from this time last year.

What dividend does Fortescue pay its shareholders?

Fortescue has a strong dividend history dating back to 2011.

The miner traditionally pays its shareholders two full-franked dividends every year, in March and September. The miner has a policy of returning 50%-80% of its net profit after tax to shareholders as dividends.

Fortescue is due to pay its shareholders a final 46 cent per share dividend, fully franked, later this month. Combined with the 62 cent dividend paid out in March, that brings the miner’s total FY26 dividend to $1.08 per share.

Current forecasts suggest that the company’s FY27 total dividend per share could decline to 86.4 cents per share, off the back of falling iron ore prices. 

Based on the current share price, that translates to a dividend yield of around 6.1% for FY26, and around 5% for FY27.

How many Fortescue shares do I need to generate $1,000 per month in passive income?

At the time of writing, Fortescue shares are $17.61 each.

That means, for the $1.08 per share dividend in FY26, investors would need to buy roughly 11,111 shares to generate around $1,000 per month (or $12,000 per year) in passive income.

To earn the same amount in FY27, assuming the miner pays the forecasted 86.4 cents per share dividend, investors would need to buy around 13,888 shares.

What would that cost me?

In order to buy the 11,111 Fortesce shares needed to generate the equivalent of a $1,000 per month passive income in FY26, you would need to invest around $196,000.

For the same level of passive income in FY27, investors would need to spend around $245,000 on the mining shares.

It’s not a small investment, but it’s one that could pay off over the long term.

And remember, you don’t have to invest the full amount at once. You can slowly build your investment over time and let compound growth do the rest.

The post How many Fortescue shares do I need to buy to earn $1,000 per month in passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies 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.

There is plenty of discourse around artificial intelligence and the lack of exposure available through Australian stocks. 

While it’s true that Australia doesn’t have a direct equivalent to Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) or the major US technology giants driving the AI revolution, that doesn’t mean Australian investors are shut out of the opportunity. 

The AI buildout requires far more than chips and software. It also requires vast amounts of data-centre capacity, electricity, land and connectivity.

For investors looking to gain exposure to the artificial intelligence boom through Australian equities, these companies offer three different ways of owning the physical infrastructure behind AI. 

Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)

NEXTDC offers perhaps the most direct Australian exposure to the physical infrastructure required to power the AI boom. 

The company operates high-performance data centres that house the servers, GPUs and networking equipment. This is used by cloud providers, enterprises and AI companies. 

As AI models become more computationally intensive, demand is shifting towards high-density data centres with significantly greater power and advanced liquid-cooling capabilities. 

These are areas in which NEXTDC is investing heavily. 

The argument for NextDC is quite straight forward. 

If the world needs dramatically more computing power to develop and run AI, it needs dramatically more data-centre capacity to house that computing power.

Experts seem to agree. UBS recently placing a buy rating with a $23.45 target, implying more than an 80% upside.

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

Goodman Group provides a less obvious, but potentially powerful, way to gain exposure to the AI buildout. 

While traditionally known as a global logistics property group, Goodman has been rapidly expanding into data-centre infrastructure.

Its competitive advantage lies in controlling the land, power and development capability needed to build large-scale facilities. 

This is increasingly important because AI data centres are constrained by demand. They are also constrained by access to suitable sites, electricity and network connectivity. 

In other words, Goodman is a way to invest in the scarce physical resources that AI infrastructure needs.

It has also drawn positive attention from experts this month. 

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

Megaport sits further up the AI infrastructure stack, providing the connectivity that allows data, cloud platforms and computing resources to communicate with one another. 

AI workloads are extraordinarily data-intensive, requiring fast, reliable connections between data centres, cloud providers, GPUs and end users. 

Megaport operates a software-defined networking platform spanning more than 1,200 enabled data centres and 30 countries, making it a potential beneficiary as AI drives greater volumes of data across networks.

Brokers are expecting almost 40% share price growth in the next 12 months on the back of its recent earnings results. 

The post You don’t need to own Nvidia to invest in AI – Here are the best Aussie artificial intelligence shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goodman Group, Megaport, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Goodman Group and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.