Mining listings bring Indian gold and Irish zinc to London
20/12/2017 14:19
* Panthera's prime asset is Rajasthan gold project
* Singapore's Republic Investment Management funds Panthera
* Erris backed by Canadian miners
By Barbara Lewis
LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Two exploration companies with
assets spanning gold in India to zinc in Ireland will list their
shares on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on
Thursday, bringing to 11 the number of mining listings this year
as commodities prices recover.
Shares in Panthera resources, whose prime asset is a gold
project in Rajasthan and Erris Resources, which has gold in
Sweden and zinc in Ireland, will start trading at 0800 GMT.
Commodity prices have stabilised after a steep downturn in
2015 and early 2016 and the number of share listings is up
dramatically from just two in 2016. Junior miners who are
exploring and developing assets, however, say it is still hard
to raise capital.
London's AIM is home to many smaller businesses and helps
them secure the funds to grow, but of the mining companies
listed so far this year, the majority have fallen below their
opening prices. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1MT5PI
Panthera's Managing Director Geoff Stanley told Reuters his
company stood apart in its exposure to India, whose hurdles to
entry deter many non-Indian companies.
"India is difficult, but the prize is worth it," Stanley
said.
Panthera has cleared the toughest administrative stages,
winning approval from the government of Rajasthan, which Stanley
said should make a prospecting licence for the at least 6
million ounce Bhukia Project a formality.
Panthera Resources, which also has gold projects in West
Africa, has had 4 million Australian dollars ($3 million) in
backing from the Singapore-based fund Republic Investment
Management and will get a further 2.7 million Australian dollars
once the Indian prospecting licence is secured.
Erris Resources has raised 4 million pounds ($5.4 million).
Canada's Osisko Gold Royalties OR.TO has invested 1.47
million pounds to become a 18.9 percent shareholder and Centerra
Gold CG.TO , also of Canada, has a strategic alliance to help
explore the Swedish assets.
CEO Merlin Marr-Johnson said the company would drill in the
first quarter across its assets.
The company's zinc in Sligo, Ireland, is shallow, he said,
making it comparatively cheap to mine and positioning it well to
profit from zinc prices CMZN3 , which have risen by around a
quarter this year.
Gold prices XAU= have risen roughly 10 percent in 2017,
but have fallen from peaks as geopoliticcal tensions have eased
and dollar weakness has faded.
As a cross between a currency and a commodity, gold largely
ignores supply-demand fundamentals and decisions to mine are
based on the economics of a specific resource.
Marr-Johnson said the Swedish reserve was "gold plus, plus",
as the deposits also contained other metals, but said gold
always has appeal.
"Gold is essentially the original Bitcoin," he said,
referring to its independence from governments.
The other resource companies listed in London this year are
Rainbow Rare Earths RBWR.L , Phoenix Global Mining PGMH.L ,
Jangada JANJ.L , Polyus PLZLq.L , Altus Strategies ALS.L ,
Cora Gold CORAC.L , EN+ Group ENPLq.L , AfriTin Mining ATM.L
and most recently Shefa Yamin, an explorer for precious stones
in northern Israel. SEFA.L SEFA.TA
($1 = 1.3038 Australian dollars)
($1 = 0.7460 pounds)
(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
((Barbara.hm.Lewis@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 2932;
Reuters Messaging:
barbara.hm.lewis.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: PANTHERA ERRIS/IPO