Malawi represented on London Stock Exchange
Mkango Resources, a mineral exploration company focused on the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project, has successfully listed on the AIM London Stock Exchange, one of the world’s leading growth markets for small and mid-cap companies.
The development makes Mkango Resources the first company with only a Malawi focus to be listed on the AIM. Mkango is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Mkango Resources is licensed to explore Rare Earths at Songwe Hill in Phalombe and Thambani in Mwanza and is now one of the very few listed rare earth companies globally.
The company says this dual listing in London will help to reinforce the profile of Malawi as a serious investment destination.
Mkango president, Alexander Lemon, said based on extensive benchmarking and industry analysis, Mkango has the potential to be a future low cost and sustainable producer of rare earths, thereby providing a strong foundation for entering into partnerships, marketing and off-take arrangements.
“As the project advances, we feel it is beneficial to have both UK and Canadian listings to broaden access to capital. Furthermore, a lot of our shareholders are based in UK as well as Canada and there is a strong affinity and familiarity between UK and Malawi, as well as Canada.
“Listing in London helps increase the profile of both Malawi and the company. We are keen to promote Malawi as an investment destination and the best way to do that is to make Mkango a success,” said Lemon.
He further said since listing in UK, the company has enjoyed a significant increase in the number
of shares being traded and share price performance has been positive.
“It shows to investors worldwide that Malawi is a good jurisdiction to invest in. It should be noted that Mkango is the only focused rare earths company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
“Mkango will be the only AIM listed company focused on just Malawi. So this will really put Malawi on the map with regards to investment opportunities and mineral potential,” he said, adding that we also understand that we are the only company with just Malawian assets to list on both the Canadian and UK stock exchanges,” he said.
Mkango Resources Chief Executive Officer, Will Dawes, described the listing as a major milestone.
A pre-feasibility study put out by the company at the end of 2015 showed Songwe Hill to have an after-tax net present value of $345 million.
The study further put the internal rate of return at 37 percent and estimated annual total production of 2,841 tonnes of rare earths oxide per year over an 18 year mine life.
Mkango’s primary business is the exploration for rare earth elements and associated minerals. The main exploration target in the Phalombe licence is the Songwe Hill rare earth deposit, which features carbonatite hosted rare earth mineralisation.
