Modern Mining October 2020

CRITICAL METALS

Critical Metals targets acquisitions in the strategic metals sector in Africa Established in 2018, LSE newly-listed investment company, Critical Metals Plc, is targeting acquisi- tions of brownfield mining opportunities in the strategic metals sector in Africa, the com-

pany’s initial focus, CEO Russell Fryer tells Munesu Shoko , will be on small to medium known deposits as opposed to exploration, prioritising projects with low-entry costs and potential to generate near term cash flow.

F ollowing its recent listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Critical Metals Plc, a mining investment company established to target opportunities in the overlooked and under-ana- lysed mining sector, has put wheels in motion to start acquisitions in the critical and strategic metals sec- tor in Africa. CEO Russell Fryer tells Modern Mining that “we are in the initial stages of narrowing down the list of potential acquisitions and we hope to start transacting by the end of this year”. Critical Metals is looking to build a profitable min- ing company by identifying investment gaps in the small mine market on the African continent, primarily in the critical and strategic metals space where sup- ply/demand fundaments are forecasted to continue to improve as critical raw metals play an increasingly important role in global economic and technological development. Why critical metals? Fryer says Critical Metals was born out of the board’s intention to create an investment vehicle to identify and acquire brownfield opportunities in the strategic metals sector as defined by the United States and European Union.

Rough cobalt stone, extracted from Africa.

According to the American Geosciences Institute, critical minerals are those that are essential for soci- ety and to the economy. Demand for many of these minerals has skyrocketed in recent years with the growing global appetite for high-tech devices. The rising demand for critical raw materials needed for renewable energy technologies and e-mobility is also apparent. The European Commission recently expanded its list of critical metals from 26 in 2017 to 30 in 2020. Previously, the 26 critical metals comprised antimony, hafnium, phosphorus, barite, heavy rare earth elements, scandium, beryllium, light rare earth elements, silicon metal, bismuth, indium, tan- talum, borate, magnesium, tungsten, cobalt, natural graphite, vanadium, coking coal, natural rubber, fluorspar, niobium, gallium, platinum group metals, germanium, phosphate rock and strontium. The list now also includes bauxite, lithium, titanium and strontium.

Beryllium is one of the minerals targeted by Critical Metals.

To provide context, estimates suggest that the EU will need 60 times more lith- ium for electrical vehicle (EV) batteries and energy storage by 2050. With the annual production of EVs set to grow from 3,4-million in 2020 to 12,7-million in 2024, and bat- tery production growing from 95,3 GWh to 410,5 GWh over the same period, demand for lithium is expected to rise from a fore- casted 47,3 kt in 2020 to 117,4 kt in 2024 at a 25,5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according

to GlobalData.

18  MODERN MINING  October 2020