RAB Capital, a resources investment vehicle with long experience in the industry, has invested a further £450,000 in Harena Resources (HREE).
Harena is developing the Ampasindava ionic clay rare earth project in Madagascar.
RAB’s investment is structured as a conditional subscription for the issuance of 30 million shares at a price of 1.5p per share.
The investment increases RAB's shareholding in Harena from 4.17% to approximately 9.02%.
The proceeds from the will be used for working capital to advance Ampasindava.
"Harena is a globally strategic heavy rare earth resource and likely to attract interest from US or other countries as they look to alternative supplies of critical metals outside of China,” said Philip Richards, chief executive RAB Capital.
“The Ampasindava project is especially exciting given its deposits of specific heavy rare earths that are key in the composition of neodymium magnets which are in growing demand from the rapidly expanding robotics sector."
View from Vox
This seems like old times as, against a backdrop of a rising mining market, RAB Capital moves to increase its stake in a junior miner with a very promising asset. Of course, it’s now twenty years since RAB Capital had its’ first go round in a similar context, and there have been plenty of highs and lows since then. But even in the early 2000s Philip Richards was one of the most influential investors in the mining sector. In the subsequent years he’s gained even more experience, and is now about as seasoned a professional as it’s possible to get. No wonder Harena chairman Ivan Murphy says the company is “delighted” that Richards has brought RAB in for a bigger stake.