Kazera Global plc's (AIM:KZG) shares moved higher, gaining around 20% on Tuesday, changing hands at 1.23p, after announcing its Whale Head Minerals unit signed a 50/50 production sharing agreement with Rare Earth Minerals International for the Walviskop heavy mineral sands project.
The PSA takes effect on 1 June for an initial 12‑month term and creates a fully aligned operational partnership that will split production revenues and costs 50/50 while REMI deploys processing plant and associated infrastructure with an estimated replacement value in excess of £1 million at no upfront capital cost to Kazera, with periodic reconciliation arrangements.
Kazera Global, an AIM‑quoted diversified commodity investment company, says REMI will also make a monthly operational funding contribution of ZAR600,000 (circa £27,000) toward site costs, materially reducing WHM's near‑term funding needs during scale‑up.
Installation, commissioning and optimisation are already underway and WHM targets a progressive ramp to approximately 10,000 tonnes of processed HMS per month by the end of the third quarter, with a longer‑term objective of approximately 20,000 tonnes per month subject to optimisation and feedstock availability.
REMI will work with WHM to lift concentrate grade toward a minimum c.40% TiO2, a change the company believes will materially improve product saleability, realised pricing and the project's path to cash generation as volumes and quality rise.
Richard Jennings, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Kazera, said: "This agreement represents a potentially pivotal moment for Kazera and materially changes the trajectory of our Walviskop project and provides a clear pathway to increase production volumes and concentrate quality over the coming weeks and months."
The PSA is intended to provide a stronger operational platform ahead of the anticipated grant of the 2A Mining Right and WHM is finalising a Competent Persons' Report for the 2A area that it expects to publish in late June.
