Aura hopes demerger of Swedish battery metals project will give it a jolt
Mining
share
Aura Energy wants to “maximise the significant value” of the battery metals that lie within its Haggan project in Sweden by spinning it out and listing it on two international exchanges.
The project hosts vanadium, molybdenum, cobalt, neodymium, nickel and zinc — most of which have not been “fully considered” in past technical studies, the company told investors.
Aura’s (ASX:AEE) focus in the past has largely been on uranium exploration in Mauritania, where it hopes to start production in 2019.
The company’s share price is sitting around 2.5c — nearly half the 52-week high reached in mid-February.
The key driver of Aura’s decision to demerge and list the Haggan project is the significant increase in metal prices over the past two years, particularly for vanadium (400 per cent) and cobalt (300 per cent).
Vanadium is a key ingredient in Redox flow batteries, which are used for storing energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar. The batteries are also used in electric vehicles because of their “rapid recharge” capabilities.
“Aura has always considered Haggan to be the company’s most valuable long-term asset and the significant recent price rise in battery metals has transformed Haggan’s current value proposition,” chairman Peter Reeve said.
“Haggan now has potential to be one of the world’s largest sources of battery metals and the company believes a separate listing in this environment has the potential to generate substantial value for shareholders.”
Aura has now kicked off the process of finding a new Swedish management team for the newly formed company that will own the project — Haggan Battery Metals.
The plan is to sell down 20 to 30 per cent of the new company and seek a primary listing on either the London or Toronto stock exchange and a secondary listing on Sweden’s stock exchange.
Aura is also looking at the potential for Haggan Battery Metals to create downstream businesses in the battery manufacturing sector.
