New African investment platform

Private equity company Denham Capital is to invest up to US$200 million in establishing a new African-mining joint venture with South African exploration company Pangea Exploration Ltd.

Bert Koth, a director at Denham Capital, said the new business will target a wide range of opportunities across Africa, and at all stages of the project life cycle. This will include 'derisking' individual projects and resource expansion, cash-flow development and acquiring operating assets.

The JV will target Africa, which, although geologically resource rich, faces a shortage of the necessary risk capital and managerial and entrepreneurial expertise needed for mine development.

Mr Koth said the venture will review opportunities in a wide range of minerals, including gold, platinum group metals, iron ore, coal and copper, and is already reviewing multiple projects in those metals.

Pangea is led by Rob Still, who has previously been chairman of Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd and Metorex Ltd, and a director of Pan African Resources plc. Mr Koth said "Rob and his team are uniquely well positioned to create value in African mining projects, and this new platform establishes a well-funded vehicle to take advantage of a wide range of opportunities."

Local developments that Denham sees as "attractive for capital intervention" include the emergence of Mozambique as a major global coal supplier, the diversification of Botswana's mining industry, the development of iron-ore opportunities in West Africa and gold mining consolidation opportunities in the same area.

Denham Capital, which has over US$4 billion of invested and committed capital, makes direct investments in the energy and commodities sectors from its offices in the US (Boston, Houston and Short Hills), London, Sao Paulo and Singapore.