Green Capital is a daily series dedicated to tracking capital flows and emerging opportunities in environmental markets. Notable events include green investment deals, start-up fundraising, and new public listings.
Deals/Fundraising
Vale has announced a $3.3B investment to boost its copper and nickel production in Brazil and Canada. The company is targeting production of 500,000 tons of copper by 2028, up from 326,600 tons in 2023. The expansion will primarily involve upgrades to the Salobo and Sossego mines in Brazil.
Befesa S.A., a metals byproducts recycling, has completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Recytech S.A. of France. The acquisition, valued at $42.8M, concludes Recytech's status as a joint venture between Befesa and Recylex S.A., a French metal recycling firm.
Dow has agreed to acquire Circulus, a Houston-based polyethylene recycler. The acquisition includes Circulus' facilities in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and Arab, Alabama, adding 50,000 metric tons per year of mechanical recycling capacity.
Bayernets, a German transmission operator, is investing €210M in the AUGUSTA pipeline. Scheduled for completion by 2030, AUGUSTA will facilitate the transport of green hydrogen from North Africa to Germany's HyPipe Bavaria network.
SQM, the world's second-largest lithium producer, has entered an earn-in agreement with Talga Group to develop the Aero lithium project in northern Sweden. The agreement allows SQM to earn up to a 70% stake by investing $19M in exploration over seven years. Talga retains rights over graphite minerals at Aero and will receive management and success fees.
Heygaz Biomethane, backed by Infravia Capital Partners, has finalized an agreement to acquire Ormonde Organics, an Irish biogas and biomethane producer. Ormonde Organics operates two operational anaerobic digestion plants in Portlaw and Youghal, with plans to start a third plant by 2025.
MAIRE Tecnimont Group's subsidiary, Kinetics Technology, has been awarded a $400M EPC contract by HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie to build a Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) complex at HOLBORN’s Hamburg refinery. This project, set to be operational by early 2027, will produce 220,000 tons annually of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
Start-Up Investments
Amara Raja Energy and Mobility, a battery manufacturer, has taken a €20M stake in InoBat, another battery manufacturing firm. This increases Amara Raja’s stake in InoBat to approximately 9.3%.
Hexagon Energy Materials (HXG) has completed a $670,000 funding round through a convertible note to advance its WAH₂ low-emissions ammonia project in Western Australia to the FEED stage by Q3 2024. The funding will support technical work and regulatory approvals. Hexagon plans an additional funding round if needed.
New Public Listings
Nations Royalty (NRC), backed by Frank Giustra, became Canada's first Indigenous-focused royalty company to be listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange. The Nisga’a Nation holds a 77% stake in the company. NRC has acquired royalty rights on Newmont’s Brucejack gold mine and Seabridge Gold‘s KSM copper-gold-silver-molybdenum deposit.
Reports
A long article from Rick Mills on mining.com that goes over the market dynamics that are playing out in copper (keep in mind the author is being paid by some of the companies he mentions in the piece): article