Staff Reporter
SOUTH Africa-based platinum group metals (PGM) and chrome producer, Kameni, is understood to be planning a fundraising campaign in the United Kingdom to finance its PGM and chrome prospects in Zimbabwe and South Africa, The Financial Gazette can report.
The company, which came under sustained pressure over its Bougai project that had also been taken up by the Central African Mining and Exploration Company (Camec), which is now owned by Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, has reportedly appointed Jamie Strauss to help with the fund raising.
The move suggests that Kameni could now be contemplating a listing on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM rather than a previously announced listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE).
According to information obtained by The Financial Gazette, Strauss is the BMO Capital Markets managing director of UK Equity Products responsible for developing and managing an AIM/LSE business.
Prior to joining BMO Capital Markets, Strauss was a founding partner of Hargreave Hale, where he spent five years building an institutional mining specialist sales and research team.
In a relatively short period of time, that team became known in the UK mining investment market for its early focus on the uranium investment opportunity and in raising finance for a large number of mining companies.
Kameni was said to be eager to benefit from Strauss’ experience to mobilise cash from the UK investors, who have recently shown an insatiable appetite for investments in Zimbabwe.
Kameni said on its official website that it, together with its Zimbabwean subsidiary Mid-Ma Platinum, had engaged actively with Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines and Mining Development for the clarification of Mid-Ma’s platinum claims in the Bougai area of Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke.
“Good progress has been made by the authorities towards re-establishing clearly demarcated, uncontested and legally enforceable platinum mineral rights for Mid-Ma Platinum.
“A positive outcome is expected,” the company said, indicating that following a drilling and evaluation phase, Mid-Ma was likely to apply for a mining lease in terms of Zimbabwean legislation.
The Bougai claim had been controversially given to Camec after a US$100 million the company had extended to the government through a loan to the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation .
But Kameni, which was planning a listing on the JSE this month, had claimed ownership of the Bougai claim, with a PGM resource base estimated at 10 milllion oz.
The claim also contains extensive chrome resources and Kameni had plans to develop two mines – one producing 400,000oz of PGM annually and a second producing 1,2mt of chrome annually.
Kameni had been scouring for additional platinum claims in the country to boost its resource base ahead of a planned listing.
The company was also trying to buy out surrounding claims to increase its resource base to 30 million oz.
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