News

February 26, 2008

Hidebound At Anglesey, Chomping At The Bit At Labrador

By Alastair Ford

It’s a game of two halves at Anglesey Mining. For those who wondered what the fit was when Anglesey did its Canadian iron ore deal in 2005, the answer is: there wasn’t one. But a dealmaker like John Kearney would never let that stand in the way of a good business opportunity, and as things stand he looks vindicated. Anglesey listed its Labrador properties on the Canadian markets last year as Labrador Iron Mines, and the listing went very well. So well in fact that the controlling interest that Anglesey retained is now worth more than Anglesey itself – 33p per share to be precise, as against Anglesey’s own 18p per share here in London.

Such is the irony of trading on capital markets.

There are several reasons for this strange state of affairs. The first is that hackneyed old bogey of London’s smaller mining companies: liquidity. It’s not great here in London, even if Anglesey does retain a listing on the full board from its decades old attempt to get the Parys Mountain copper-zinc property back into production. “If the Romans could mine it, why can’t we?” seems to be the thinking there, although chief executive...