TechMet, a global critical minerals investment company, has secured a further US$50 million commitment from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as part of its latest fundraising round.
A ceremonial signing of the commitment letter for the extra US$50 million equity investment in TechMet will take place with the DFC’s CEO Scott Nathan on 3 December 2023, at COP28, the UN’s Climate Change Conference, which is being held over the next two weeks in the United Arab Emirates.The additional commitment from the US Government’s development finance institution comes as TechMet opens a new US$300 million equity funding round. The company now has a value of over US$1 billion.DFC is already a key shareholder in TechMet and this will raise its total investment to US$105 million, following an initial investment in 2020.TechMet, founded in 2017, is an investment company focused on building businesses across the critical metals value chain, from extraction and processing to recycling and supply-chain management.TechMet Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Brian Menell, said: “The signing of the additional funding commitment from the DFC signals the growing appreciation of the imperative to ramp up critical metals supply chains if the world is to move away from fossil fuels and achieve its climate change goals.“The US Government backing puts TechMet at the forefront of this global effort to responsibly scale production of these metals, which are essential for clean energy technologies such as EVs and renewable energy storage.“We are grateful to all of our investors and shareholders – current and future – as we deliver on our mission to build environmentally and socially responsible supply chains needed for the electric vehicle revolution, and the clean energy transition.” During 2022 and 2023, TechMet has invested more than US$250 million into critical metals projects across North and South America, Europe, and Africa.Scott Nathan, DFC CEO, said: “Today’s announcement builds upon existing DFC support for TechMet to develop more diverse, resilient, and sustainable critical mineral supply chains. DFC’s investment, at the same time, supports the transition to clean energy technology while growing economic opportunity and upholding high labour and environmental standards.”TechMet will use this latest tranche of DFC backing to exercise the company’s option to deploy US$50 million directly into the Phalaborwa Rare Earths project in South Africa. Phalaborwa is being developed by Rainbow Rare Earths, the London Stock Exchange-listed rare earth minerals’ producer of which TechMet is a significant shareholder.TechMet became the primary funder of Rainbow Rare Earths during the feasibility phase of the Phalaborwa project.
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