Companies: AFE    RRL   

Seasoned Australian mining entrepreneur John Park reckons he has something to celebrate just now. Not only is he in the process of floating a new venture, Tasman Goldfields, Down Under for between £2.2 million and £3.5 million, but he has also successfully raised the equivalent of £7.7 million in South Africa for his AIM-quoted exploration play, African Eagle.

The R 104.2 million (£7.8 million) fundraising was the biggest so far on Johannesburg’s Alternative Exchange, AltX. African Eagle, with potentially lucrative copper and gold prospects in Zambia and Tanzania, and now dangling uranium deposits in East Africa before investors’ eyes, is the first company with assets outside South Africa to list on AltX.

Park, who made his name years ago developing Tanzanian gold assets for SAMAX Resources and steered that company towards an eventual £134 million takeover by Ashanti Goldfields, says South Africans now hold 30 per cent of African Eagle. AIM investors have neglected it as too exploration-focused with goal posts apparently changing between different projects. But, boasts Park, ‘Jo’burg investors appreciate the value of a portfolio of good exploration assets.’

The genial Park is an old African hand, though he is no admirer of ex-Ashanti boss Sir Sam Jonah, whose many chairmanships now include AIM newcomer Range Resources. He suggests African Eagle’s uranium ambitions could be furthered by a partnership with a somewhat larger group.