Pure-play nickel company Lifezone Metals rises on NYSE debut

Battery metals development company Lifezone Metals (NYSE: LZM) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday following the business combination between special purpose acquisition company GoGreen Investments and Lifezone Holdings.

The transaction netted the company gross proceeds of $86.6 million, including approximately $70.2 million from a private investment in public equity and the receipt of approximately $16.4 million of cash from GoGreen’s trust account, net of redemptions.

These proceeds are in addition to the previously announced investments by BHP Billiton (UK) of $90 million into Kabanga Nickel, owner of the Kabanga project in northwest Tanzania, and of $10 million into Lifezone Ltd., both which are subsidiaries of the company.

The completion of the business combination establishes Lifezone Metals as the first pure-play nickel resource and cleaner technology company listed on the NYSE.

According to the company, the exploration-stage Kabanga project is “estimated to be one of the largest and highest-quality undeveloped nickel sulphide deposits in the world.” It uses the Hydromet technology, which is said to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 73% compared to traditional smelting and is free of sulphur dioxide.

In 2021, Lifezone’ Kabanga Nickel acquired the intellectual property rights and the existing assets to the Kabanga project, and was awarded a special mining licence in October of the same year.

Shares of Lifezone Metals opened at $11.90 a share, and traded as high as $19.92 per share. By 3:15 p.m. in New York, the stock had risen 17.1% to $17.13 a share, for a market capitalization of $447.9 million.