Unlocking the Magic of Metals: The Role of Critical Minerals in the Energy Transition - with Paul Atherley
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In this episode we have a returning guest who appeared back in July 2020 (Episode 89) so please go and watch that episode as well. Paul Atherley, Chairman of Pensana Rare Earth, is a LSE listed exploration company soon to be bringing into production one of the world's largest and higher grade rare earth projects to bring minerals used in power magnets, wind turbines, hybrid motor vehicles and much more. In addition, they are establishing the world’s first independent and sustainable rare earth processing hub at the Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Freeport.

Paul is a highly experienced senior resources executive with wide ranging international and capital markets experience. A mine engineer by trade, he is the founding Director of Pensana and gives us an update on what the company has achieved since we last spoke, the current activities and what the outlook of the company is moving forward.

Paul is going to be attending Europe’s largest mining event, Resourcing Tomorrow, (Formerly known as Mines and Money London,) which is taking place in London on the 28-30 November, a great platform for the entire mining value chain, fostering learning, lively debates, and providing valuable networking opportunities.

Register NOW by going to www.resourcingtomorrow.com/register) to receive a discount on tickets using the code DIGDEEP10.

So go and get your tickets TODAY

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Pensana Rare Earths is a mining company focused on bringing rare earth projects into production, particularly for minerals used in power magnets, wind turbines, and hybrid motor vehicles.
• The company is establishing the world's first independent and sustainable rare earths processing hub at the Saltend Chemicals Park in Humber Freeport, UK.
• Pensana has successfully secured financing for its Longonjo rare earth mine in Angola, with $200 million in debt from ABSA Bank and $80 million in equity from the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund and another undisclosed investor.
• The company plans to start construction on the Longonjo mine in the first quarter of next year and aims to be in production by the end of 2025 or early 2026.

BEST MOMENTS

"We've announced today our financing of Longonjo which is the big mine and then some indication of the framework of the financing for our SALTM project." 

"The challenge for us was we were trying to raise 550 million US dollars to build a mine in Angola and a rare earth processing facility... So we've separated the two projects."

"We're very fortunate that FSDA has provided us with some initial $15 million loan against the $80 million of equity they're looking to put in."

"We'll be building the world's largest undeveloped rare earth mine in Angola... So it may well be that we actually have two financings done and two projects under construction."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

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Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.