Aim-listed natural resource exploration and development company Pembridge Resources – which was known as China Africa Resources up to April 10 – is shifting its focus from being only a developer of mining projects to a company that also provides project financing.

Pembridge Resources CEO David Linsley tells Mining Weekly that the company’s directors believe that the mining, engineering and finance expertise it has added at senior level since the implementation of management changes started in February ensures that the company is well placed to identify and potentially develop several projects – at different stages on the development curve – currently under consideration.

“Our geographical focus is on projects located in North America, South America and sub-Saharan Africa, while the commodities that we are interested in investing in are primarily base metals and precious metals.”

Linsley comments that Pembridge will commit to investing in mining projects only where it believes that it can add value. He says one of the company’s core investing principles is that it will have to have a “meaningful level” of control in the day-to-day running of the operations in which it invests by having some of its staff managing the asset.

He points out that an option under consideration by Pembridge’s board is for the company to become an Aim Rule 8 investing company while maintaining the ability to complete a reverse takeover (RTO), should an appropriate opportunity arise.

A Rule 8 investing company is defined as one that Aim would expect, as
a condition of admission, to raise a minimum of £6-million in cash through equity fundraising on, or immediately before, admission. This requirement referred to in Rule 8 must usually be satisfied by an independent fundraising and not by funds raised from related parties, unless the related party is a substantial shareholder only and an authorised person.

Linsley states that, through the company’s “exclusive network”, it has sourced a number of “compelling projects” that are valued at more than $50-million, and it will soon carry out initial due diligence on these projects.

“Shareholders will appreciate that, at this early stage, we cannot reveal any specific details about these opportunities.” Nonetheless, he points out that the company will continue to evaluate its copper investment project in Botswana and its lithium exploration licences in the US, which the company’s current management team inherited.

“We will provide the market with an update once our review has been completed and we are cognisant of the time constraints imposed on us. “However, we are confident that we will be able to move forward as either a Rule 8 investing company or on an RTO in the not-too- distant future,” Linsley states.

He also notes that Pembridge has appointed independent financial services company Shard Capital Partners as a joint broker to the company.