Times: London float for miner with Angola on its mindA rare...

Times: London float for miner with Angola on its mind

A rare earths mining company is to list in London today in the latest sign that Britain’s initial public offering market is beginning to bounce back from the pandemic.

The City’s army of bankers and advisers have been starved of new companies to take public, with management teams reluctant to float. However, Pensana Rare Earths Plc (PRE.L) is taking the plunge, hot on the heels of another miner, AEX Gold, which announced its intention to list last week.

Pensana, which trades on the Australian stock exchange, is coming to London as it seeks funding for its neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) project at Longonjo, Angola, which will be the world’s first new major rare earths mine for 12 years. The company, currently valued at £30 million, plans to tap the market over the coming months to help cover the £160 million or so it needs to construct the mine. Longonjo has an estimated 735,000 tonnes of NdPr carbonate, from which incredibly powerful magnets are made. About seven tonnes of those magnets are used in each of the wind turbines in the North Sea.

Paul Atherley, executive chairman at Pensana and the former managing director of Berkeley Energia, another small London-listed miner, said: “London is full of ESG [environmental, social and governance] funds looking for exposure to any aspect of wind turbines and electric vehicles, but also to Africa.”

Pensana, whose biggest shareholder is the Angolan sovereign wealth fund, with an 18 per cent stake, will use the rest of this year to carry out further drilling at Longonjo.