Abena Amoah, managing director of the Accra-based stock exchange, said the company has invested all of its outstanding shares in Ghana Securities in addition to its existing listings on the Australian Stock Exchange and the AIM board of the London Stock Exchange. It was listed on the exchange.
The initial public offering price opened in Accra on Monday at 4.40 cedis ($0.31) per share, Bloomberg reported. Atlantic Lithium, which has not yet started production, has not yet raised any new capital in Ghana, although it has gone public to meet licensing requirements in the West African country.
The company’s Ewoya mine is expected to become the third largest hard-rock lithium project on the continent.
“We look forward to working with you in your follow-on venture to raise capital by selling shares to Ghanaian investors as you build the mine,” Amoah told company representatives. said.
Atlantic Lithium’s next steps include ratification of a 15-year mining lease by Ghana’s parliament and a final investment decision to break ground by the end of the year, CEO Keith Muller said.
Ghana is already Africa’s largest gold producer and is looking to expand local ownership of its mineral resources, according to Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Jinapole.
Last year, the country approved a green minerals policy that requires extractors of these resources, which are essential to the global energy transition, to secure at least 30% local investment in projects.
Growing demand for lithium
With a lithium shortage expected to begin in 2025, there is an urgent need to identify and secure new sources of lithium supply to meet the growing demand for batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.
Fifty percent of the lithium extracted from the Ewoyaa mine is earmarked for a processing facility operated by Piedmont Lithium Ltd, North Carolina-based Atlantic Lithium Ltd’s second-largest shareholder.
Ghana’s Government Minerals Fund plans to spend $32.9 million on the Ewoyaa project, which will produce 65,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, enough to power about 1.4 million Tesla Model 3s.
