Appian secures $1bn World Bank partnership

APPIAN Capital Advisory has secured a $1bn partnership with the World Bank’s private sector arm to finance mining projects primarily in Africa and Latin America, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.The International Finance Corp will provide $100m to anchor the fund and raise the remainder through its asset management division, Appian CEO Michael Scherb said. The new capital will be deployed alongside Appian’s current funds.Appian, which manages approximately $5bn in assets, ranks among the few investment firms dedicated to mining alongside Orion Resource Partners and Resource Capital Funds, said Bloomberg News. Western governments are growing increasingly worried about securing supplies of critical minerals such as copper, lithium and rare earth elements amid concerns over insufficient mining and processing investment, it added.New York-based Orion and the US International Development Finance Corp have discussed establishing a joint fund of up to $5bn for mining projects, Bloomberg News reported last month.The Appian-IFC venture “is a great framework and hopefully the first of many where you see solid public private partnerships,” said Scherb. “Governments are really ideal funding partners in the sense that they’re very long term and have very long-term capital,” he added.The partnership’s first investment will support ongoing development of an underground mine at Appian-owned Santa Rita nickel project in Brazil. The new fund will invest across equity, credit and royalties in emerging markets, contributing 10% to 30% of total commitments.Appian’s most recent transactions include a $175m financing package for Asante Gold Corp, which operates two gold mines in Ghana, and the $420m sale of a Brazilian copper operation.“Our strategy doesn’t change,” Scherb told Bloomberg News, just the “type of partners we have”.The post Appian secures $1bn World Bank partnership appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com