Bezos-backed miner invests in Aim-listed Bluejay Mining, sending shares flying
Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed battery minerals venture KoBold Metals is set to develop a new major nickel, copper and cobalt project with AIM-listed Bluejay Mining.
The news sent Bluejay’s shares soaring 20.6 per cent at 11.2p per share in its afternoon trading.
KoBold Metals will earn 51 per cent of Bluejay’s licence for the Disko-Nuussuaq area under a two-stage earn-in deal.
The license covers a nearly 3,000 sq km area that Bluejay believes could “host multiple globally significant occurrences of nickel and copper”.
The project, due to be based in Greenland, will see KoBold inject some £11m into the geological evaluation and drilling while using its own technology.
The demand for rare earth metals is expected to swell as automotive firms pivot towards electronic cars – with the metals key components in electric batteries and wiring.
KoBold Metals, also backed by Michael Bloomberg and SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son through major investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures, has also bagged the backing of Norway’s state energy company Equinor.
Chief executive of KoBold, Kurt House, said: “The Disko region has seen the rare convergence of events in earth’s history that could have resulted in forming a world-class battery metal deposit.
“KoBold’s technology is perfectly suited to discovering new resources at Disko. Our proprietary library of analytical tools, Machine Prospector, will enable effective deployment of exploration capital and maximise our chances of discovery at Disko-Nuussuaq.”
Before the news sent shares northbound, Bluejay boss Bo Stensgaard said the agreement would be “transformative” for the firm.
“We are delighted to have a partner at the pinnacle of technical innovation for new exploration methods, backed by some of the most successful investors in the world.
“Additionally, Bluejay retains the ability to self-fund to maintain a 49 per cent ownership through to production, providing external public investors with the opportunity of investing alongside a private investment entity of this magnitude.”