Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma RapaportMay 21, 2023 –...

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

May 21, 2023 – 7.13pm

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Technology Metals Australia, which counts Resource Capital Fund as its 17.1 per cent shareholder, had two brokers building support for a $10 million capital raising over the weekend ahead of a launch on Monday.

Fund managers fielded calls from Bridge Street Capital Partners and Ashanti Capital, who were offering shares at 28¢ – or a 12.5 per cent discount to the last close. The vanadium explorer was down to $8.1 million cash at the end of March, and is plugging away at its West Australian project Murchison.

Potential backers were told the company had a big market in batteries, where vanadium is seen as a longer-duration, lower-maintenance and safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries especially for industrial and remote use. Vanadium batteries’ merits already had several miners, including IGO Limited, trialling the technology at its sites, they were told.

Technology Metals Australia has pitched itself as a tier 1 asset for vanadium, at a time when demand is climbing and 85 per cent of the world’s production of the metal was concentrated in the hands of three countries: Russia, China and South Africa.

Resource Capital Fund’s presence on the register was expected to be a drawcard for the raising. RCF also owns 7.48 per cent of listed peer Australian Vanadium Limited, and has form in orchestrating M&A between synergistic businesses that it has tipped its money into. It played a similar role at lithium miner Pilbara Minerals, helping the company finance its acquisition of embattled peer Altura Mining in 2020.

Should RCF wish to rustle up a deal at Technology Metals Australia, it would have an obvious target in Australian Vanadium Limited but also in the nearby Windimurra vanadium plant which went into administration. That could potentially be reconfigured to treat Technology Metals Australia’s ore and cut down on the company’s capital expenditure, sources said.