Cornish Metals raises £8m as Poldark spirit takes hold of investors
A Canadian mining firm aiming to restore Cornwall’s fortunes as a mining hotspot has beaten expectations with a £8m raise this morning.
Cornish Metals, which is due to list on London’s AIM market in the coming weeks, had hoped to raise £5m through a placing.
However, investors piled into the project, which is seeking to start drilling for tin, copper, and lithium later this year.
The firm said that the £8.2m raised in total would go towards the United Downs near Redruth. Drilling is expected to begin in March or early April.
It is the second project in Cornwall, which used to be one of the world’s most productive mining regions, to have attracted outsized investor interest in the last few months.
Back in October Cornish Lithium smashed expectations by raising nearly three times the £1.5m it had targeted from investors.
Like the lithium-focused firm, Cornish Metals believes that there are yet-untapped reserves of precious minerals to be discovered beneath the UK’s westernmost county.
The Canadian-listed company’s interest has hopes of a new industrial boom in the county, the mining heritage of which is perhaps best known through Sunday night smash hit Poldark.
With the UK currently in the early stages of its transition to becoming a net zero economy by 2050, securing dependable supplies of rare elements like lithium – crucial for electric cars – is essential.
Chief executive Richard Williams said: “We would like to welcome our new shareholders on this next phase of the company’s growth.
“The support from UK investors has been extremely encouraging and reinforces our belief that exposure to the UK investment community by listing on AIM is an important milestone.
“We are pleased to get to work on our projects in Cornwall and look forward to working with all stakeholders as we look to contribute to the UK’s desire to achieve a carbon neutral economy and expand the domestic supply of materials important to the battery and technology sectors.”