London: Investing in African Mining Indaba (Mining Indaba), organised by Hyve Group Plc announces Ironridge Resources as the 2021 Investment Battlefield winner yesterday for their lithium pegmatite discovery project in Ghana.
 
The competition was open to mining companies with a market capital of $50 million or below, 12 companies were selected as the most promising junior mining companies with projects in Africa. The 2021 participants included explorers and developers in battery metals, energy minerals and precious metals. Antler Gold, Cora Gold, Gratomic and Ironridge Resources won their respective heats in precious metals and battery and energy materials throughout March moving onto yesterday’s final.
 
Ironridge Resources accepted the award after pitching the project to a panel of judges convened of Pallinghurst Traxys, Public Investment Corporation and Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty, with many global investors and financiers tuning in to watch the junior mining companies battle it out.
 
It was a close-run competition; however, the lithium pegmatite discovery project secured the title. The 2.0 Mtpa production operation with a high-grade resource and coarse spodumene won over the judges, producing an average 295,000tpa of SC6% of Li20.  The strong lithium fundamentals were well received as the race to electrification continues in Europe, the judges also commented on the green power aspect and infrastructure involved, particularly as the world economy greens. The 8-year LOM operation and drilling advancing to extend the mine life more than 10 years, the lengthy asset life cycle was well received by the panel as it allows investors an opportunity to buy and exit as they wish. Ultimately, the project was well presented with the hydro and solar power options for a low-carbon footprint which was highly appreciated by the panel.
 
Antler Gold became the runner up for the competition for their Erongo Gold project: Namibia’s next gold discovery. The 824,292 km2 project offers excellent exploration potential, with activities providing almost tenure-wide coverage of the prospective zones by geochemical and geophysical survey data. The judges were impressed with producing in an unlikely gold jurisdiction with easy access to essential utilities including paved roads, national power grid, water supply and well-serviced local town.
 
Congratulations to all those who participated in this year’s Investment Battlefield competition including Pelangio Exploration, Platinum 1, Marenica Energy, Be Metals, Sarama Resources, Cora Gold, Mcharo-Kombe, Premier African Minerals, Gratomic and Deep-South Resources. Thank you to the expert panel of investor judges throughout the heats.
 
The registration is now available for Mining Indaba 2022, taking place next February (7-10). For more information on registration, please click here.