Financing mining projects in emerging markets

In the current geopolitical environment, Russia’s and China’s status as the dominant foreign business partners and financiers could diminish in Central Asia and other regions. This creates opportunities for major international firms to increase their engagement in mining modernisation and exploration projects across the Eurasian continent.

The panel discussion “Financing mining projects in emerging markets”, chaired by Simon FT Cox, Senior Consultant Norton Rose Fulbright, addressed practical considerations for raising capital and finance for mining projects in Eurasia.

Ayuna Nechaeva, Head of Europe, Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group, provided an outlook for IPOs for mining companies from EMEA for 2023. She also answered the questions on what would make a mining company stand out from the crowd by improving its strategy on sustainability, good governance, risk management, etc. In the end, she briefed the audience on LSE’s new Voluntary Carbon Market.

Bert Koth, Managing Director & Partner of Denham Mining Fund, presented a perception of the Eurasian mining industry from a large institutional investor. In particular, he talked about what makes a jurisdiction investible and how important ESG is and how it affects the return criteria. He also briefly discussed alternative sources of funding available to mining companies operating projects in emerging markets.

Vomic Nur Shah, Global Head of Origination, UK Export Finance, talked about the criteria for export financing and what approaches the UK Export Finance use to assess the financial strength of the companies applying for export financing and the viability of the projects.

Remi Piet, Senior Partner, Embellie Advisory, presented his views on roadblocks and above-the-ground risks which deter investors from financing projects in the region and how to mitigate those (ESG and governmental affairs best practices), integration within global mineral supply chain and collaboration with EU and Gulf region countries in particular.