TIDMPRE
Pensana PLC
27 September 2022
27 September 2022
Pensana Plc
("Pensana" or the "Company")
A Blueprint for Sustainable Rare Earths
Electrification of motive power is forecast to become the
biggest energy transition in history. Two of the biggest components
of this transition are the phasing out of internal combustion
engines in favour of electric vehicles and the rapid growth of
offshore wind power, both of which are heavily dependent of
powerful rare earth permanent magnets.
Currently China supplies over 90% of these magnets and has made
it clear that it is going to need all its production for its own
US$11 trillion 2060 carbon neutral plan and, on top of this, feels
that it is under no obligation to supply them to the rest of the
world.
An additional concern for European and US OEMs is that the
current supply from China may not meet their ESG standards.
Pensana is at the forefront of tackling these two challenges. By
establishing an independent and sustainable supply chain to the
highest international standards we are able to provide our
customers with the assurances they need, firstly in terms of ESG
transparency and secondly in terms of supply chain resilience.
Following our announcement on 20 September to partner with
Polestar (Nasdaq: PSNY) on its moon-shot goal of creating the first
truly climate-neutral car by 2030, Pensana has released its
strategic Blueprint for Sustainable Rare Earths, which can be
downloaded from www.pensana.co.uk/sustainability .
Pensana aims to produce the lowest embedded carbon products in
the rare earth industry as well as a deep and meaningful carbon
reduction with the aim to achieve net zero across the value chain
by no later than 2040.
Pensana's actions will allow the business to place itself among
the leading companies addressing climate change issues.
The Company is making big strides towards establishing a
climate-neutral supply chain.
-- CICERO, Norway's foremost institute for climate research,
awarded Pensana Green Bond accreditation in July, rating the
planned operations as Light Green with a Governance score of
Good.
-- Low carbon power will be provided at Saltend in the UK,
following a signed letter of intent securing a private wire
connection to Yorkshire Energy Park for 4MW rising to 10MW of low
carbon electricity for 10 years. The 200MW offshore wind connected
battery will provide low carbon power for the separation facility
and later will power the conversion of NdPr oxides into magnet
metal.
-- We are partnering with Equinor on the H2H Saltend project
studying the use of low carbon hydrogen to recycle the seven tonnes
of permanent magnets in each of the 260-metre-high offshore wind
turbines being installed in the 3.6GW Dogger Bank windfarm.
-- Low cost, low carbon hydroelectric power will be provided at
the Longonjo operations in Angola under a ten-year contract. An
innovative processing route developed by the Pensana process team
led by Chief Operations Officer Rocky Smith, will recycle process
chemicals.
-- In July we were delighted to welcome the Secretary of State
at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy the
Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP to the Saltend ground breaking ceremony,
and we were particularly honoured that he chose to launch the UK's
Critical Minerals Strategy at the event.
Chairman Paul Atherley commented:
"The Pensana Blueprint for Sustainable Rare Earths is an
important document as it clearly sets out our commitment to all
stakeholders and importantly to our customers that we put the
highest ESG standards at the heart of our operations.
Sustainability is always going to be work in progress however I
am most grateful to the ESG Committee for its leadership on this
Blueprint which provides a clear pathway to embedding ESG into
every decision, at every stage and using independent experts to
monitor our progress."
ESG Committee Chairperson's Introduction to the Pensana
Blueprint to Sustainable Rare Earths
The world is waking up to the climate crisis, which is one of
the biggest challenges facing society today, with the need to
address it now more pressing than ever.
Renewable energy will form a key part of the solution and
ramping up its production and use will require the most significant
energy transition in history. Pensana sits right at the centre of
this transition and exists to meet this challenge.
Sourcing and processing rare earths and other critical minerals
are increasingly recognised as vital for decarbonisation,
particularly as key components for the magnets used in electric
vehicles and wind turbines.
The importance of these critical minerals has long been
understood by China, which controls the majority of their sourcing
and processing. However, there has been enormous environmental
damage during such production processes and, going forward, China
itself will have huge demands on rare earth resources for its own
energy transition needs.
Consequently, security of supply and environmental concerns are
now firmly on the agenda for Western countries, with recognition
that a new model is not only desirable, but imperative.
Pensana is committed to being part of this new model. From the
start the company has sought to do things differently, operating
with the highest environmental, social and governance standards.
Pensana understands that ESG concerns are now rightly and
increasingly important for governments, regulators, investors and
consumers, and the risks of poor ESG standards are clear.
In line with this, ESG is embedded in every decision the company
takes, at every stage of its operations. Whether protecting and
enhancing the environment, assessing emissions, using renewable
energy to produce the lowest carbon product or fostering a circular
economy, Pensana is acutely focused on doing the right thing.
Pensana also knows that it has not reached the end goal and is
always looking to improve. This is why the company uses independent
experts to evaluate the business, in line with leading
international standards, allowing it to review and enhance its ESG
systems and processes.
The purpose of this ESG blueprint is to demonstrate Pensana's
transparency so that stakeholders can see for themselves that the
Company puts the highest of ESG standards at the heart of its
operations. I am proud of Pensana's commitment to ESG and that it
is at the forefront in this field.
The Right Honourable Baroness Lindsay Northover
Independent Non-Executive Director
-S -
For further information, please contact:
Shareholder/analyst enquiries:
Pensana Plc
Paul Atherley, Chairman IR@pensana.co.uk
Tim George, Chief Executive Officer
Rob Kaplan, Chief Financial Officer
George Zacharias, Group Company Secretary
Media enquiries:
FGS Global:
Gordon Simpson / Richard Crowley Pensana-LON@fgsglobal.com
About Pensana Plc
The electrification of motive power is the most important part
of the energy transition if we are to tackle climate change and one
of the biggest energy transitions in history. Magnet metal rare
earths are central to that transition, forming a critical part of
the technology for efficient electric vehicle motors and offshore
wind turbines.
Pensana plans to establish its Saltend processing hub as an
independent and sustainable supplier of the key rare earth magnet
metal oxides to a market which is currently dominated by China.
The US$195 million Saltend facility is being designed to produce
circa 12,500 tonnes per annum of rare earth products, of which
4,500 tonnes will be neodymium and praseodymium oxide (NdPrO),
representing over 5% of the world market in 2025.
Pensana's plug-and-play facility is located within the
world-class Saltend Chemicals Park, a cluster of leading chemicals
and renewable energy businesses in the Humber Freeport and will
create over 500 jobs during construction and over 125 direct jobs
once in production.
Powered by low-carbon offshore wind, it will be the first major
separation facility to be established in over a decade and will
become one of the few major producers located outside China.
Feedstock will be shipped as a clean, high purity mixed rare
earth sulphate (MRES) from the Company's Longonjo low-impact
operations in Angola. The mine's state-of-the-art concentrator and
proprietary MRES processing plant are designed by Wood to the
highest international standards.
The operations will be powered by renewable energy from
hydroelectric power and connected to the Port of Lobito by the
recently upgraded Benguela railway line.
Pensana believes that provenance of critical rare earth
materials supply, life cycle analysis and GHG Scope 1, 2 and 3
emissions will all become significant factors in supply chains for
major customers.
The Company intends to offer customers an independently and
sustainably sourced supply of the metal oxides and carbonates of
increasing importance to a range of applications central to
addressing the energy transition.
Pensana is also aiming to establish Saltend as an attractive
alternative to mining houses that may otherwise be limited to
selling their products to China, having designed the facility to be
easily adapted to cater for a range of rare earth feedstocks.
www.pensana.co.uk
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