Rare earths producer Pensana continues to enjoy strong support from its existing shareholders, raising £15-million to progress early-stage construction at its Saltend facility, in the UK, and at its Longonjo mine in Angola, ahead of the main financing, which is currently targeted for the fourth quarter of 2021.
The Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund continues to support the company as part of the Angolan government’s strategic objective of diversifying its economy away from the oil and gas sector by supporting key mining projects.
The funds will be applied to progress early-stage construction, ordering equipment and bulk materials, fabrication costs, establishing site infrastructure and working capital requirements.
The placing price of 120p represents a 1.7% premium to the volume-weighted average price of the ordinary shares for the period of ten trading days.
Chairperson Paul Atherley says the ongoing strong shareholder support is “very welcome” and that it will enable the company to rapidly establish in the UK the world’s first major rare earth processing facility in over a decade to meet the burgeoning demand from electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines.