London-listed rare earths miner Pensana has successfully raised £15-million, or $21-million, through the issue of 12.5-million new shares, at a price of 120p apiece.
Some uptakers of the latest fundraising include SI Capital, WH Ireland and Angolan sovereign wealth fund Fundo Soberano de Angola – which now owns 22.3% of the total issued share capital of the company.
The company will use the proceeds to progress early-stage development of its Longonjo rare earths mining project, in Angola, and its Saltend separation facility that it is building in the UK.
Some of the early works on the projects comprise $4.9-million for a solvent extraction refinery at Saltend, as well as $3.4-million of site infrastructure, a $5.1-million concentrator and $4.7-million mixed rare earth sulphate plant at Longonjo.
Pensana still needs to raise the main financing for its projects during the course of the fourth quarter, which is expected to be a mix of long-dated debt and equity finance totalling about $400-million.
The company’s 84%-owned Longonjo project, in Angola, is expected start producing concentrate in mid-2023, while Saltend should start producing concentrate closer to the fourth quarter of 2023.