ROBERT Friedland, the renowned mining entrepreneur, is considering listing its African iron ore company Ivanhoe Atlantic on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Citing the original article in the Australian Financial Review, Mining.com said that by making his presence felt in Australia, Friedland would set himself up to invest in the country’s critical minerals industry.
The listing, which is expected before June, will open the market to Ivanhoe Atlantic’s Nimba project in Guinea. One of Nimba’s advantages is the relatively short distance to port, using an existing line across the Liberian border. The giant Simandou project, also in Guinea and in which Rio Tinto is invested, requires a new 650km rail line.
Ivanhoe Atlantic acquired the iron ore deposit in September 2019, said Mining.com. Based on a 2015 report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Nimba holds roughly one billion tons of high-grade iron ore. At full-tilt, the mine is expected to produce 30 million tons of high-grade iron ore a year.
Bronwyn Barnes, Ivanhoe Atlantic’s CEO, told the Australian Financial Review that Australia was the ideal market for the IPO. “The Australian market has a really strong understanding of the iron ore industry,” Barnes said during an event in Sydney on Tuesday.
While iron ore will be the initial focus, the IPO will also support investments in critical minerals. Barnes highlighted a strong interest in nickel, cobalt and scandium, which are on the US critical minerals supply list.
Ivanhoe Atlantic was previously known as High Powered Exploration (HPX) and is independent of Ivanhoe Mines, the Toronto-listed group which operates the Kamoa-Kakula copper and Kipushi zinc mines in the Congo, and is developing the Platreef platinum group metals mine in South Africa.