Miner charges hard on battery of funds
A COMPANY developing the Scandium, Cobalt and Nickel project at Greenvale, northwest of Townsville, is looking like a well- prepared Flemington favourite after gaining big support from London and Asia- based investors.
Australian Mines, which is developing the Sconi project and other similar resources at two sites in NSW, yesterday announced it had secured $ 20 million from institutional investors. It had sought $ 10 million but received offers four times that amount.
“It just shows the strength of the project and the sector in general,” Australian Mines managing director Benjamin Bell said. “The whole battery sector is in high demand.”
Argonaut and Arlington Group Asset Management, which acted as joint lead managers for the placement, reportedly attracted one of the world’s largest investment managers and a leading Asian resources investment firm.
Meanwhile, Australian Mines’ share price has soared more than 10- fold to 14c since the beginning of October.
Mr Bell said investors were looking for mines that had the potential to come on line in the next three to four years and Sconi fit the bill.
“There’s expectations ( on demand) for cobalt. Everybody is trying to put their foot on a reliable supply. That is what is driving interest from investors in us,” he said.
Australian Mines wants to develop a 750,000- tonne- ayear facility in the Greenvale area to produce 24,000 tonnes of battery- grade nickel sulphate and 3000 tonnes of commercial- grade cobalt sulfate a year.
It has a mineral resource of 89 million tonnes grading 0.11 per cent cobalt and 0.8 per cent nickel as well as scandium, a rare earth metal used in alloys.
The project would cost up to $ 500 million and employ 300 to 350 people.
A feasibility study is under way and samples are already being tested by nine potential clients in Asia and North America.
Mr Bell said they had sufficient finance to run the project through to April, when a decision on whether to proceed with construction of the facility would be made.