JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed tantalum concentrate producer Noventa was planning to pursue a dual-listing on the TSX later this year, the company highlighted in a presentation to shareholders on Tuesday.

In a copy of the presentation posted on its website, the producer noted that the dual-listing was one of the near-term goals it was aiming to reach between July and December.

Further, Noventa indicated that it was also considering raising $23-million in additional capital, which could be raised through equity, development bank loans, strategic partnerships, convertible debt or redeemable convertible preference shares.

The company, which was trying to establish the only operational industrial-scale tantalum mine in Mozambique, expected its flagship Marropino mine to reach full output by the first quarter of the next year.

Tantalum is widely used in the consumer electronics industry, mainly as powder and wire for capacitors in telecommunications devices and implantable medical devices.

Production at the mine had started in April and Noventa was planning to upgrade the Marropino plant’s capacity to more than 500 000 lb/y of tantalum pentoxide during 2010/11, representing a 70% increase on the current 300 000-lb/y capacity.

The producer was confident about the prospects for its Marropino mine, as well as its Morrua and Mutala projects, also in Mozambique, which were still in an exploration phase.

Noventa noted that global demand for tantalum was expected to reach seven-million pounds a year by 2012, while a potential shortage of supply was also looming.

Further, the US was considering legislation that would seek to eradicate conflict minerals from the international marketplace and force electronic suppliers to prove the origin of the tantalum materials they source.

Noventa stated that a significant portion of the world’s tantalum supply has come from conflict zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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