NEIL GARDYNE
Director of the New Africa Mining Fund II, the second venture-capital fund administered by Africa-focused mining project equity fund New Africa Mining Fund
Photo by: Duane Daws
The New Africa Mining Fund II (NAMF II), the second venture-capital fund adminis-tered by Africa-focused mining project equity fund New Africa Mining Fund (NAMF), has resolved to discontinue seeking new investment opportunities.
The fund’s website states that the junior mining industry has, since the commencement date of NAMF II at the beginning of 2011, suffered a continuous downward trend as evidenced by the performance of publicly listed juniors.
During this period NAMF II, under the coordination of director Neil Gardyne, was unable to find value commensurate with the risk of the sector and as a consequence did not conclude any significant transactions.
NAMF II is a limited life investment vehicle and was now approaching the end of its investment period. Mining and exploration required a longer term view than what was available to the fund, and accordingly, it was considered commercially sensible to discontinue the investment period.
This statement was confirmed by NAMF fund manager Ross Gardiner at the fourth Africa Iron Ore conference, hosted this month by IMM Events, part of publicly owned conference organiser Informa Group.
Gardiner told conference delegates that there was limited room for venture capital-type funds, such as those that were previously offered by NAMF, as “our pockets are not deep enough and we cannot afford project delays, owing to the limited investment periods offered by these types of funds”.