Ivanhoe Atlantic pivots to US IPO after rail deal win

[Ben Graham]

Ivanhoe Atlantic is weighing a US initial public offering later this year after securing long-awaited approval to use a key rail corridor to export iron ore from Guinea.

The move marks a reversal from plans to list in Australia and follows formal approval from Liberia earlier this month to rehabilitate and use its railway network. The move cleared the final regulatory hurdle for transporting iron ore from the company’s Kon Kweni project in Guinea.

Guinean lawmakers approved the cross-border arrangement in December, ending a dispute that has delayed development of the deposit for more than a decade.

Under a $1.8 billion agreement signed with Liberia in April last year, Ivanhoe Atlantic can move iron ore along what it calls the “Liberty corridor”, the shortest export route from Kon Kweni to port. The company expects construction to begin soon, with first shipments targeted for 2027.

Kon Kweni is designed to produce between 2 million and 5 million tonnes a year in its initial phase, before expanding to as much as 30 million tonnes annually. The first phase is expected to deliver ore grading about 66.5% iron, among the highest globally, while a second phase would require roughly $850 million in investment to upgrade export infrastructure.

Ivanhoe Atlantic is also advancing the nearby Nimba project, with both deposits known for high-grade ore used in lower-emissions steelmaking that requires less energy and produces fewer greenhouse gases.

Strategy change

The company had previously lined up bankers to explore an Australian IPO, but shifting US policy has altered that plan.

“We are not in a hurry to go public; we want to do it well,” executive chair J. Peter Pham told the Financial Times, adding that increased mining support from the Trump administration had “affected our calculus” in choosing a listing venue.

Over its 25-year concession, Ivanhoe Atlantic expects to pay Liberia about $1.4 billion in rail user fees and roughly $600 million in other taxes and charges.

Ivanhoe Atlantic’s Guinea iron ore project moves closer to construction

Ivanhoe Atlantic is majority-owned by I-Pulse Inc., founded and chaired by Canadian-American billionaire Robert Friedland, who is also co-chair of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN). Ivanhoe Mines partnered with China’s Zijin Mining Group to develop the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world’s largest copper mines.

Friedland rose to prominence with the 1996 sale of Canada’s Voisey’s Bay project and later helped develop Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi copper deposit, now owned by Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO). He secured rights to Kon Kweni in 2019 after taking over from a BHP-led consortium.

The planned IPO would extend Friedland’s influence in West Africa, positioning the Kon Kweni mine and rail link as a US-backed alternative to large Chinese-led mining projects in the region. The US steel industry remains dependent on recycled material and lower-grade iron ore imports.