PLUS-quoted Lisungwe, a Malawi-focused explorer steered by controversial veteran tax planner Roy Tucker, is contemplating moving to AIM.

The Maidstone-based company, chaired by mining figure John Watkins, has identified two deposits, Chimimbe and Chimwadzulu Hill, in the politically stable and mining-friendly East African state of Malawi. Lisungwe reckons Chimimbe contains 25,000 tonnes of nickel, at grades ranging from 0.13 per cent to 0.69 per cent, and suggests Chimwadzulu Hill could hold 15,000 tonnes.

With backers including small company investor Bruce Rowan’s Starvest group, the company is working to produce a resource estimate compliant with the industry’s ‘JORC’ standard by the end of this month. Watkins, Tucker and fellow directors, including mining entrepreneur Dr Bob Young, will then consider if that forms the basis of a launch onto AIM.

Lisungwe has had several fundraisings since its 2005 Ofex/PLUS float at 1.25p. Most recently the company raised £626,000.

Half came at 2.5p through ex-MP Tom Benyon, a one-time associate with Tucker in the ill-starred Rossminster finance group and more recently a Lloyd’s and investment activist, and half through broker VSA Resources at 1.75p. The company’s shares, which peaked at 3.75p in the past 12 months, now stand at 2.25p, valuing Lisungwe at £4.5 million.

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