The Canadian developer announced a $750,000 non‑brokered private placement, following strong demand for its previously disclosed $17.36 million LIFE financing led by Cantor Fitzgerald. The combined proceeds will strengthen the company’s balance sheet as it pushes ahead with feasibility work, environmental and social impact studies, and negotiations toward future offtake agreements.
The financing comes at a moment of heightened scrutiny of global fertiliser security. Potash (the broad term for potassium‑rich minerals and salts that are mainly used to make fertiliser) prices have remained elevated and volatile following supply disruptions linked to Russia and Belarus, two of the world’s dominant exporters. With many agricultural markets still absorbing these shocks, investors are increasingly looking to geographically diversified, port‑accessible potash projects that can supply fast‑growing fertiliser consumers in Africa, Brazil and the US.
A strategically timed project
Millennial’s Banio Project, located in coastal Gabon, has been gaining attention across mining circles. Mining Journal recently detailed the project’s resource base at 2.45 billion tonnes Measured & Indicated and 3.56 billion tonnes Inferred at roughly 15.6% KCl – despite only limited drilling to date.
Mining Magazine has highlighted Banio’s solution‑mining design, proximity to the port of Mayumba, and its logistical advantage for shipping potash into Brazil and African markets.
Farhad Abasov, Millennial’s chairman, directly linked the project’s momentum to today’s geopolitical realities. “Potash is a fertilizer that plays a strategic role in global food security, and its importance is increasingly being recognized,” he wrote in Devex. “The world’s potash map is lopsided. Huge inland mines feed billions of people far away. That’s a risk. The next phase of fertilizer security depends on integrating smarter design: Mining and processing near ports, shortening transport routes, and minimizing surface impact.”
Why investors are leaning in now
Agricultural markets are still grappling with the fallout from conflict‑related disruptions in traditional fertiliser supply chains. With potash revenues swelling and global buyers diversifying sources, investor appetite for projects like Banio has strengthened.
Analysts note that African‑coastal potash assets, especially those close to deep‑water ports, offer a compelling response to high and unpredictable fertiliser prices; growing demand in Brazil and sub‑Saharan Africa; the need for supply routes independent of Eastern Europe; and increasing political pressure for “friendly” or Western‑aligned fertiliser supply.
The strong take‑up of Millennial’s financing, including full exercise of the overallotment, suggests the market is viewing Banio as a timely strategic play rather than a speculative minerals bet.
Capital to accelerate feasibility and ESG work
The company says the freshly raised funds will advance: a definitive feasibility study; an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA); offtake negotiations; project financing discussions; and general corporate development.
Abasov said the financing “reflects very strong confidence in our project,” adding that Banio could become “a significant supplier of this critical mineral to the United States, Africa and Brazil.”
As fertiliser security increasingly enters the critical‑minerals conversation – and as Washington signals support through early International Development Finance Corporation funding – the Banio project’s visibility could be set to rise further.
