Sinomine Plans to Raise Nearly $1B in New Capital to Develop Critical Minerals Projects
On 19 May 2026, Sinomine unveiled its plan to raise USD 760 million to develop #CriticalMinerals projects in Africa and elsewhere. The capital will come from the issuance of 216,447,567 A-shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, representing not more than 30% stake with a 6-month lock-up period. Due to the sensitive and strategic nature of the deal, the shares will be made available only to a select few Chinese institutional investors, asset management firms and private equity groups.
Firstly, the funds are earmarked for a caesium-rubidium processing plant with an annual capacity of 2,000 tonnes in the city of Xinyu in Jiangxi province. Secondly, in line with Zimbabwe’s push for Local Value Addition (#LVA), Sinomine plans to build a lithium sulfate plant at its Bikita mine in Zimbabwe with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum. Thirdly, Sinomine will fund the expansion of the Kitumba Copper Mine in Zambia.
#Caesium goes into the making of ultra-precise atomic clocks to synchronize GPS or Beidou. Caesium formate is used as a super lubricant in the oil and gas industry to drill high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) wells. As such it is essential for defense, energy, space and other strategic sectors.
The global market for caesium may be small in volume, but it is huge in terms of strategic value. The caesium used around the world comes mainly from just three sites: Sinclair in Australia, Tanco in Canada, and Bikita in Zimbabwe. Other than Sinclair Mine, which is owned by Australian company Develop Global Limited (ASX: DVP), Tanco Mine and Bikita Minerals are fully owned and operated by Sinomine. Thus, China controls about 80% of the global caesium supply.
Due to its extreme rarity and enormous value, one gram of caesium can fetch over USD 80, making it one of the most expensive metals on Earth. The global caesium market is estimated to be worth about USD 420 billion in 2025, and is projected to increase to USD 750 billion by 2035, with over 6% CAGR.
Recently, Sinomine invested USD 35 million to build a caesium flotation plant in Bikita. Initially, the plant processes tailings from the petalite dumps. In Canada, Sinomine plans to upgrade the Tanco plant from producing concentrates to refining high-purity caesium nitrate and caesium carbonate.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) must grant final approval for Sinomine’s new share issuance. If all goes well, the approval is expected in August 2026, and Sinomine is set to hold an Extraordinary General Assembly around that time.