Neil Herbert

GHANA has long been known as a major African gold producer and was also at the forefront over a decade ago of the renewed scramble for hydrocarbon sources in the continent. Now, in the wake of a newly developed Green Minerals Policy, the West African country is in the thick of a scramble for the green metals needed to wean the global economy off fossil fuels. Enter Atlantic Lithium. Chaired by Herbert, Atlantic Lithium is hoping its flagship Ewoyaa Project will become Ghana’s first lithium mine.

In October, the project got a major boost when Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources granted it a mining lease – the first for a lithium deposit – that opens the path to commercial production. Atlantic maintains the project is well down the global cost curve and has the potential for a 2.7 million ton a year steady state operation, producing a total of 3.6Mt of spodumene concentrate (approximately 350,000 tons a year) over a 12-year mine life. Spodumene is the most widely exploited mineral source for lithium extraction, and Ewoyaa is on track to become one of the top 10 largest spodumene concentrate producers globally. The development cost is estimated at $185m, and part of the funding will come from a planned investment by Ghana’s sovereign wealth fund.

With over 30 years of experience in finance, Herbert has a track record of growing mining and oil and gas companies but his ability to add value is under scrutiny after Atlantic Lithium turned down two takeover offers from 24.54% shareholder Assore last year. Assore bid 33 pence a share sending Atlantic Lithium shares to 28p. The stock is now about 22p.