Africa-focused gold miner Allied Gold Corp, backed by US private equity firm Orion Mine Finance Group, has hired investment banks for a London listing later in 2021, taking advantage of renewed investor interest for the mining sector, two sources said.

Allied Gold, which aims to raise around $500-million with the help of JPMorgan and UBS, the sources familiar with the matter added, has bought assets in West Africa in the past two years.

"As we deliberate internally on ... the various options for funding our future growth and the market conditions for gold which are currently quite favorable, it would be inappropriate to speculate on which specific paths we may choose to follow," Allied Gold said in a statement.

Orion Mine Finance, UBS declined to comment and JPMorgan was not available to comment.

Gold mining companies pursuing initial public offerings (IPOs) are trying to capitalise on a sustained rally in the price of spot gold, which is hovering around an all-time high above $2 000/oz reached in August 2020.

The precious metal serves as a hedge against inflation, stoked by policy support measures in advanced economies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For investors, it is an opportunity to hold more gold shares in London, where only a handful of gold mining companies are listed. Another Africa-focused miner, Randgold Resources, delisted in 2018 after its merger with Canada's Barrick.

Keen to tap new investors amid renewed interest, Canadian companies Yamana Gold, and Wheaton Precious Metals, have both added a London listing in recent months and Endeavour Mining is preparing to do the same in June.

Allied Gold is one of several IPOs that have kicked off in Europe this year, after a moribund, Covid-hit 2020.

European companies raised $19.55 billion through stock market listings in the first three months of the year, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Refinitiv data.