Paul Atherley

PAUL Atherley’s claims that Pensana was “on the cusp” of developing a rare earths carbonate mine in Angola sounded like wishful thinking in 2024. At that time, his company was struggling to finance Longonjo, its 20,000-tons-a-year project. Then the remarkable happened with the election of US President Donald Trump. The Trump administration’s ‘minerals diplomacy’, a term we use loosely, has seen it enthusiastically explore the supply of critical minerals from a variety of ‘friendly’ providers on condition the minerals are refined in the US. For Pensana, this has been transformative.

In March, it secured $268m in finance for Longonjo’s first phase through a combination of debt from Africa Finance Corp. and South Africa’s Absa, and equity finance in which Angola’s Sovereign Wealth Fund is a participant. Out went plans to process the rare earths in the UK’s Saltend, notwithstanding the UK government promise in 2022 to support the facility (a paltry £5m was offered). In came an exclusive supply agreement with Indiana-based ReElement Technologies, Pensana’s new US partner, and a possible listing of Pensana shares on Nasdaq.

These developments underline the European Union’s sluggishness to secure critical minerals as well as a preference among miners to lure US investors. The tariffs versus rare earths standoff between China and the US last year only serves to highlight the strategic importance of projects like Longonjo. It will start production in 2027 just as the US’s Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement comes into force, limiting the import of rare earths to just ‘allied countries’. Amid all this noise, it will come as no surprise to learn shares in Pensana are 300% higher after flatlining for two years previously.