Natural Gas And Helium Producer Renergen Limited Announces Its Strategic Partnership With Ivanhoe Mines
Natural Gas And Helium Producer Renergen Limited Announces Its Strategic Partnership With Ivanhoe Mines.
Natural gas and helium producer, Renergen Limited has announced a significant investment in the Company by Ivanhoe Mines Limited that is worth R200.6 million.
Ivanhoe is a Canadian-listed, African-focused natural resources development company, led by its founder, Executive Co-Chairman, Mr Robert Friedland. Mr Friedland has an unparalleled track record in the discovery and development of major natural resource projects around the globe, including the current major development in South Africa at Platreef. The strategic investment in Renergen highlights the excellent growth of the Company over the last two years and the potential of the Virginia Gas Project to become a globally significant LNG and Helium operation.
Commenting on the major agreement between Renergen and Ivanhoe, Dr David King, Chairman of Renergen, said in a statement, “Ivanhoe is an ideal partner to stand alongside Renergen in the development of its world class helium reserves at Virginia. The strategic partnership with Ivanhoe is testament to the great progress that Renergen has made in its transition from explorer to developer of an internationally significant resources project.”
Ivanhoe is mining and developing in Africa the strategic minerals necessary for the electric revolution, among them, copper, nickel and platinum group metals. Helium is another strategic element, the importance of which remains largely unpublicized. It is therefore a synergistic fit for Ivanhoe and Renergen to collaborate on the development of helium in South Africa given its strategic significance and the complimentary nature of adding helium to Ivanhoe’s mix of strategic commodities. Furthermore, with regard to concerns on energy security in South Africa, Renergen’s development of the country’s first commercial LNG facility and proposed gas-to-power operations at the Virginia Gas Project through Phase 2 development will impact favourably on national energy security, as well as Ivanhoe having the ability to source the power it will need for its Platreef Project.
Moreover, power production at the Virginia Gas Project will have significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than the country’s existing predominantly coal generated power supplies. While the primary driver for Renergen entering into this transaction is to secure funding for the further development of the Virginia Gas Project, not all the cash available from Ivanhoe is required immediately.
