Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF) regularly reviews and refines its strategy in respect to future investments, especially in view of our increased focus on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) best practices. In particular, we continue to focus on how best to align our business with the development of socially responsible mining as part of our efforts to help address the challenges around carbon dependence and sustainability.
Reflecting the refinement of the strategy around its future portfolio investments, the Company is today announcing three initiatives:
1. An increased focus on commodities that support a more sustainable world;
2. Consistent with our track record over the past five years, no further investment in thermal coal assets; and
3. The establishment of a Sustainability Committee to further strengthen the Company’s already rigorous ESG due diligence processes.
Future commodity focus
The Company has spent a considerable amount of time identifying commodities and production processes that contribute to establishing a more sustainable world. Over the last 5 years Anglo Pacific has invested approximately US$250 million in new royalties, which have seen the Company focus increasingly on purer, higher quality products.
This is part of a clear strategy to move towards lighter, greener materials, which encompass environmental benefits and many of which form part of the new wave of technologies around electrification, including renewable energy. Examples include higher quality and more energy efficient iron ore and pellets, base metals linked to energy storage or power transition, specialist alloying materials like niobium, vanadium and aluminium and battery materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel.
No further thermal coal investment
The Company’s sole thermal coal asset, Narrabri, which was acquired at the beginning of 2015, represented only 7% of our revenue in 2019, a significant reduction on the 37% contribution at the time of acquisition. We expect this to reduce further as we continue to add further royalties to our portfolio.
Consistent with our track record since 2015, the Company announces its commitment today to not make any new investments in thermal coal.
Sustainability Committee
The Board has also resolved to establish a Sustainability Committee whose remit will be to assist management in ensuring that these initiatives are implemented for significant new investments and also in monitoring and, where possible, addressing any ESG issues in the existing portfolio.
The Sustainability Committee has been established to oversee the following:
• Further strengthening Anglo Pacific’s already rigorous ESG due diligence process
• Embedding ESG covenants and ongoing reporting within future royalty agreements, where possible
• Enacting a more systemic ongoing monitoring program for existing and future streams and royalties
• Providing leadership in our industry on ESG and promoting the virtues of a sustainable mining industry
Julian Treger, Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Pacific, commented:
“We are pleased to announce this further refinement of our investment strategy which follows extensive discussion by management and the Board. We firmly believe that a sustainable and responsible mining industry can make a meaningful contribution to addressing the climate change challenge in order to help transition the world away from a dependency on carbon generated energy.
We will provide further detail on the work which we have been undertaking in relation to ESG over the past year in our forthcoming 2019 Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published on 25 March 2020.”
