Altona Rare Earths plc has raised £500,000 ahead of its application for admission to the standard segment of the Official List and trading on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) Main Market.
FUNDRAISE
The company raised the funds via a placing of 6.25 million ordinary shares at 8 pence each, to satisfy its working capital requirement for a period of 12 months from admission.
Altona added that the proceeds would finance its current and future rare earth element (REE) mining projects in Southern and Eastern Africa.
LSE LISTING
Admission to trading on the AQSE growth market will be cancelled simultaneously with admission.
Altona said it expected admission to be during May 2022 and that it would change its TIDM to REE.
“The directors believe that an LSE listing will provide access to the future capital it will need to develop its asset portfolio and be of benefit when negotiating acquisitions in Africa.
“It will also increase liquidity in the company’s shares.”
STRATEGY
In July 2021, the company acquired its first rare earths project of Monte Muambe in Mozambique.
Altona said it was negotiating two new acquisitions expected to complete in H1 as well as investigating multiple opportunities in Angola, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.
“Our strategy is beginning to produce results and we are starting to build real value with the company as we work to identify and prove assets with REE that we can choose to sell or further develop,” added chief executive Christian Taylor-Wilkinson.
“Our move to the LSE Main Market signals the greater maturity of the Altona business and the increasing opportunity within the sector.
“It supports our strategy to develop the significant rare earth asset at Monte Muambe, where we have seen exploration success, while pursuing other rare earth exploration and acquisition opportunities.”
MARKET GAP
Mr Taylor-Wilkinson said that the company’s goal was to fill a “significant gap” in the market as global demand for NdPr and the other critical metals continued to rise.
“The growth of this rare earth asset platform, means now we can both be nimble and responsive to opportunities, as well as able to implement long-term development plans across different countries within Africa.”