Only the South African engineerKeith Liddellwas highlighted inKabanga Nickel's 21 January press release announcing its takeover of the eponymous deposit in northwestern Tanzania. But two other people along with Liddell now own 95% of the business. Kabanga nickel project, owned until 2018 by giantsBarrick Gold CorpandGlencore(Africa Intelligence,14/01/20), is now also controlled byChris von ChristiersonandPeter Smedvig.

The Norwegian millionaire and the South African art lover

Smedvig is the scion of one of the richest families in Norway. His grandfatherPeder Smedvigmade his fortune from 1915 onwards in maritime transport, canning and then oil drilling, and set up the famly firm in Stavanger in southwest Norway.

Peter Smedvig, a major shareholder of the family business from 1977, decided to withdraw from the maritime transport sector in 1996. In that same year he also set up theSmedvig Capitalfamily office in London in order to invest in a range of ventures via funds and private equity. His daughterAnna Margaret Smedvighas since 2016 been managing director of the family business, of which he himself is now president.

Von Christierson was originally in mining. He foundedRio Narcea Gold Mines, the company that discovered the Tasiast gold site in Mauritania which is now operated byKinross Gold Corp, and he also managed several mining companies in South Africa, includingGold Fields,East Daggafontein Mines, andGolden Shamrock Mines.

In recent years he has also attracted attention with his collection of Afro-Cuban art, Without Masks, and his foundation dedicated to southern Africa,Watch Hill Foundation.

Ambitions in Kabanga

The Smedvig, von Christierson, and Liddell trio's project was officially presented in 2020 to the Tanzanian government, when Kabanga Nickel was still calledLZ Nickel. They plan to mine a deposit containing 1.52m tonnes of nickel as well as cobalt, according to data from previous owners Barrick and Glencore.

They also plan to set up an ore processing unit in Kahama, 340km southeast of Kabanga and 1,000km from the port of Dar es-Salaam. Kabanga Nickel, which owns 84% of the operating joint ventureTembo Nickelwith 16% belonging to the Tanzanian state, is understoof to have at some point intended to invest up to $1.3bn to get the project off the ground and to start extracting ore within three years. When contacted, Kabanga Nickel declined to answer our questions.

The firm has Liddell as chairman and von Christierson as vice-chairman, withChris Showalterat the helm as CEO. Showalter, a Briton who participated extensively in the company's talks with the Tanzanian government, previously worked forGoldman Sachsin southern Africa and also managed the British investment bankHannam & Partnersand the Russian firmRenaissance Capitalin Zimbabwe.Anthony von Christierson, Chris von Christierson's relative and a former Goldman Sachs banker, is Kabanga Nickel's vice-chairman.

A trio into green energy

Both Showalter and Anthony von Christierson are also managers ofKell Process, a company founded by Liddell to develop a system for processing minerals without the use of cast iron or cyanide, which is supposed to reduce the environmental impact of the process.

The firm, which reached an agreement in late 2020 to put its technology to use at the Sedibelo mine, has studied its potential in numerous deposits in Africa, particularly in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Tanzania has also long been of interest to it, for example Barrick's Bulyanhulu gold mine. But Kabanga Nickel says the technology will not be used on its Kabanga project.

Smedvig and Chris von Christierson have invested in Kell Process, in keeping with their many ventures alongside Liddell in battery metals and other minerals in vogue due to energy transition. In 2009 the trio acquired interests in South African platinum throughSedibelo Platinum, and then targeted Swedish graphite viaTalga Groupand British lithium throughCornish Lithium.