Rainmaker Hannam recruits investors for £1bn mine
CONTROVERSIAL mining rainmaker Ian Hannam is lining up investors to fund a £1billion mineral project that could help secure Greenland’s independence.
His investment firm Hannam & Partners is advising Aim-listed Bluejay Mining which plans to raise £57million to develop its Dundas mineral project in northern Greenland. Hannam resigned as chairman of Capital Markets at JP Morgan Cazenove and was fined £450,000 in 2012 for leaking inside information about an oil and gas takeover.
He went on to set up his own company managing negotiations with major mining firms.
The project financing will be used to start extracting ilmenite – a valuable mineral in demand to make products including 3D printers, toothpaste and white paint.
The Dundas deposits are the world’s highest-grade source of ilmenite.
Bluejay upgraded its estimate for the Dundas resources by 400 per cent in recent weeks, valuing those identified so far at £1billion. Greenland is emerging as a mining hub due to climate change as melting ice exposes new mineral sites.
The Greenland government would collect royalties of 2.5 per cent of the gross profits from Dundas, helping to reduce its reliance on Danish subsidies.
Ministers support Bluejay’s plans and are expected to approve its first mining licence soon.