European Green Transition takes option on copper remnants from Cypriot mine

European Green Transition (EGT), a company floated by serial entrepreneur Cathal Friel in London earlier this month, has acquired an option to buy into a project to extract copper left over from a Cypriot mine that was in production for four decades until 1978.

The company has spent £125,000 (€146,100) acquiring the option on the so-called copper tailings recycling project, which will give it 12 months to carry out due diligence, it said in a statement on Monday.

The Limni mine, near Polis in western Cyprus, being targeted by EGT was backfilled with tailings over a decade ago. However, there has been a focus more recently on the potential for extracting copper from pit waters at the mine. EGT’s chief executive, Aidan Lavelle, had been involved in an assessment project at the location in 2017.

EGT is also looking into the potential for setting up a solar power facility at the site following the completion of tailings recycling. Should this proceed, it would join forces with a solar power operator, which would fund the development.

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This is the first potential project that EGT has announced since the company’s recent initial public offering (IPO), in which it raised £6.46 million of fresh funds. The company’s focus is on assets required for the green transition.

The company was floated with a seed portfolio that included three exploration projects – two in Sweden and one in Germany – for critical metals such as lithium, used for electric vehicle batteries, and rare-earth metals such as dysprosium and terbium, used in the manufacturing of wind turbines.

“The Limni project perfectly fits our aim to pursue what we believe are high-quality opportunities where we can potentially generate near term cash flow efficiently, while also prioritising the environment and local stakeholders,” said Mr Lavelle. “In light of shortages and rising prices for the metal, we believe this project is potentially well placed to benefit from Europe’s green energy transition and the fundamental role that copper will play in the development of transport wind and solar power infrastructures.”

The European Union’s recently adopted Critical Raw Materials Act mandates that at least 15 per cent of the EU’s annual consumption of critical materials should come from recycling.

Mr Friel’s stake in EGT has been diluted to about 19 per cent from almost 44 per cent as a result of the fundraising, still leaving him as the largest shareholder. The IPO was the fifth such transaction that his Raglan Capital corporate finance business has put together in the space of a dozen years.

Shares in EGT have risen 25 per cent to 12.5 pence since they started trading on April 8th, giving it a market value of £17.4 million.

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