The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) will run an initial public offering (IPO) and capital-raising workshop on February 3, at the 2014 Investing in African Mining Indaba.

The indaba will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from February 3 to 6.

The workshop will focus on how mining companies can navigate through the current challenging investing environment, says ASX listings and capital access manager Eddie Grieve.

“The workshop will also provide updates on the capital- raising environment in Australia, while highlighting the investment appetite for African projects. “The format of the event will also be completely different from the previous sessions that were held at the indaba, with shorter, more formal presentations and more opportunity to engage directly with the experts,” he explains.

Grieve tells Mining Weekly that the ASX’s workshop is directed at organisations and individuals interested in learning more about the ASX and how they can access the Australian market to finance exploration and development projects.

“The workshop will educate the industry on how to go about raising capital and financing mining projects throughout Africa,” he states.

Grieve says the ASX participates in events at the indaba to communicate the benefits of accessing the Australian capital market, promote investment in the large number of ASX-listed companies that attend the indaba and facilitate capital raising and investment in African mining projects.

“Since 2011, the ASX has been facilitating the ASX IPO and capital-raising workshop, featuring technical, financial and legal experts, on accessing mining equity finance on the Australian capital market,” he states.
Further, Grieve says the workshop will provide all the information companies require to make an informed choice about listing on the ASX, including the key benefits of listing on the ASX, compared with other markets; the Australian regulatory requirements for listing, fundraising and ongoing disclosure; the current Australian market environment for international resource raisings and details of capital raisings, which have been beneficial to international resources companies.

The session will also include insights from companies with major projects in Africa that have been successfully funded by listing on the ASX, he adds.

Grieve notes that ASX-listed companies operating in Africa are aware of the importance of sharing their success with local communities and have a reputation for developing projects in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

“Our hope is that our efforts and the efforts of our listed companies will result in more capital being made available for mining investment in Africa, leading to economic development and improved living standards for the local communities,” he states.

Grieve points out that the ASX has played a leading role worldwide in raising capital for junior mining companies with projects in Africa over the last ten years. More than 200 ASX-listed mining companies, with more than 1 200 projects, currently operate in 43 African countries – more than that of any other stock exchange in the world.

“As a globally linked exchange and with a mining sector that is central to the market, the ASX has been leading the way over the last five years in raising A$6.8-billion, or about R69.3-billion, follow-on capital raisings for African projects,” he points out.

Grieve states that Africa is richly endowed with mineral resources, but lacks the capital to develop its mining industry to the benefit of all its people.