THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDER INFORMATION
Pensana
Plc
("Pensana"
or the "Company")
Offtake and Co-operation Agreement with
Hanwa
Pensana Plc (PRE.LSE) is pleased to advise that it has signed a
non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) for an offtake with
a major Japanese partner, Hanwa Co. Ltd (“Hanwa”).
Key MOU terms include:
-
Offtake
proposal for up to 20,000tpa of ultra clean Mixed Rare Earth
Carbonate from Longonjo mine over 5 years at prices to be
discussed.
-
Hanwa
intends to co-operate with Pensana in the marketing and
distribution in the Global market but also work towards developing
a strategic and sustainable supply chain for magnet metal
material.
-
Hanwa is
considering a deeper co-operation including possibility of an
investment to continue to develop the Pensana upstream and
downstream projects with the aim of delivering a low embedded
carbon magnet metal supply chain supporting Hanwa’s customers and
future partners.
The MOU also allows for Hanwa to consider providing financial
support and to jointly study support opportunities from
Governmental and financial institutions for the various Pensana
projects. These include Coola and Sulima west expansion, the
separation facilities and metallization project.
Hanwa commented - “We
see this MOU as the path to finalisation of a long-term
agreement between
Pensana and Hanwa, ensuring high
quality magnet metal products with leading ESG benefits are
available to Hanwa’s Global customers.”
Paul Atherley, Pensana
Chairman commented - “We are delighted to be working with Hanwa
with a view to establishing a long term and sustainable supply of
high-quality magnet metal products from our Longonjo operations in
Angola.”
About
Hanwa
Hanwa Co.,
Ltd is a Japan-based trading
company, handling a diverse range of commodities including steel
products, non-ferrous metals, foods, petroleum and chemical
products, lumbers, machinery and now intensively focusing on key
feedstock (metals and chemicals) for the electric vehicle and FCV
with a market capitalisation of ¥215.9 billion (circa US$1.5 billion) and reported net sales of more
than ¥2,400 billion (circa US$16.9
billion) in FY2023-2024.
Hanwa has an “A-“ credit rating.
Hanwa is
aggressively acting amongst the largest commodity traders of metals
and chemicals specifically in the Asian region, and has a long
history of trading with global metal and chemical producers and
operating a specifically-dedicated primary metal and battery team.
This team has been intensively expanding its critically important
minerals including not only above key metals for battery cathodes
but also graphite (natural & synthetic), silicon and black mass
for battery anodes, rare earth materials and recycling
products.
Hanwa will
keep contributing to both social development and environmental
conservation by responding to increasing demand while expanding its
supply ability through partnerships with the resource suppliers and
smelting/refining companies, off-takes and investments.
About
Longonjo
The
electrification of motive power through EVs and Wind Turbines is
the biggest energy transition in history. Adamas Intelligence
forecasts that the global demand for rare-earth magnets will
increase at a CAGR of 8.7% from 2024 to 2040.
Pensana
owns one of the world's largest undeveloped rare earth mines, one
of only three with a JORC Reserve >100,000 tonnes of NdPr. Once
in full production the Longonjo project located in Angola near Huambo on the Lobito Corridor will
produce ~5% of world production of NdPr in the form of an exported
mixed rare earth carbonate.
The
upfront capital cost of US$217
million for the fully permitted mine and processing
facilities is amongst the lowest amongst its peers making Pensana
highly competitive.
Pensana has recently been awarded a Gold Medal by EcoVadis, a
leading sustainability
ratings provider, placing it in the top 5% of the companies
assessed.
The ratings by EcoVadis are widely used by the automotive and
offshore wind OEMs to monitor the ESG credentials of potential
suppliers and are based on a detailed assessment of operations in
the areas of environment, sustainability, procurement, labour and
human rights and ethics.
The award follows the award by S&P Bond Rating Agency CICERO in
2022 which rated the Company’s operations as Light
Green with Good
Governance.
Pensana will continue to operate under the EcoVadis tracking and
reporting system, as leadership in global sustainability is
critical to its long-term growth strategy.
Pensana’s Blueprint for Sustainable Rare Earths, demonstrating our
strategic commitment to ESG, can be found here.
The
information contained within this announcement is considered by the
Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the
Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No.596/2014. Upon the publication of
this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside
information will be considered to be in the public domain. The
person responsible for arranging for the release of this
announcement on behalf of the Company
is Paul
Atherley, Chairman.
–
ENDS
–
For
further information, please contact:
Shareholder/analyst
enquiries:
Pensana
Plc
Paul Atherley, Chairman IR@pensana.co.uk
Tim George, Chief Executive Officer
Rob Kaplan, Chief Financial Officer
