Pensana has appointed the lead figure for its project delivery team as it brings rare earth operations to Saltend.
Hamish Westwater is to head a group of 134 specialist engineers to execute and commission the £150 million Humber plant, with Kevin Botha to lead on mining and extraction in Africa.
It follows the ceremonial breaking of ground in East Yorkshire by chairman Paul Atherley and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, and comes as the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund makes a further $10 million (£8.2 million) equity investment in the London-listed inward investor.
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Mr Atherley had told of his confidence at attracting the capital to build out the freeport site, where the magnet metal supply chain to feed into electric vehicles and offshore wind farms, as the first spade went in the ground.
An eight person delivery team has been eyed. Mr Westwater brings more than 30 years’ experience with complex projects in the chemical engineering sector for both contractor and client, specialising in fast-track delivery.
His CV includes senior positions with Wood Group, PGS, Stolt offshore, BG Group, Petrofac, CNOOC International and Apache Corporation.
Mr Botha has more than 45 years’ experience in the global mining industry working for blue-chip international companies including multibillion-dollar projects and related portfolios.
A project sponsor for the Longonjo project has also been named in Jeremy Clarke. Having trained with Anglo American, he brings two decades of experience in gold, uranium, copper, and diamonds. He was previously consulting metallurgist for De Beers, where he was responsible for metallurgical excellence at their plants globally.
Mr Atherley said “Breaking ground at Saltend was a major milestone for the company marking the transition from design to construction for both projects. We are enormously grateful to the expert teams who have done such a great job in bringing the Saltend and Longonjo projects to front end engineering and design status in record time.
“It’s now very exciting to announce details of our world class project delivery team, which has the right combination of experience to execute and commission both projects, supported by a team of highly skilled and dedicated engineers.”
The chairman said the Angolan investment would accelerate development of the Longonjo project, which will eventually feed the Humber plant, alongside third parties.
The subscription for 12.3 million ordinary shares takes the Fundo Soberano de Angola's holding to 24.4 per cent.
Chairman, Carlos Alberto Lopes, said: "This additional investment is an expression from the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund of its continuous support for the Longonjo project, for what it represents for Angola's participation in a sector of crucial importance for the Green Economies narrative, as well as for the positive impact it will have for Angola, from the socioeconomic point of view."
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