Ivanhoe Atlantic eyes US IPO after winning rail approval

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Ivanhoe Atlantic is mulling a US listing later this year after receiving approvals for rail access for its huge Kon Kweni iron ore deposit in Guinea — an about-face from its previous plans to list in Australia.

The $1.8bn project has been delayed for more than a decade due to the lengthy tussle over rail rights. This month the US company finally received formal approval for rail access from Liberia, clearing the way to transport ore on a line it has dubbed the “Liberty corridor”.

J Peter Pham, executive chair, told the FT that Ivanhoe Atlantic was considering a listing “most likely in the US, perhaps an Australian secondary listing, but that is to be determined”.

The company had been planning to list in Australia, where it hired bankers early last year to explore an IPO. The switch underscores how shifting American policies are drawing mining companies to US capital markets.

“We are not in a hurry to go public; we want to do it well,” Pham told the FT. He added that the burst of mining support from the Trump administration has “affected our calculus” in selecting the IPO location.

As the US government has increased its focus on critical minerals, Ivanhoe Atlantic has positioned its mine and rail project as a Trump-endorsed alternative to the massive Chinese-led mining projects nearby.

“We are very actively engaged with the US government at all levels, and we have gotten very positive feedback. I will leave it at that,” Pham said.

The Kon Kweni project, backed by Canadian-American mining billionaire Robert Friedland, will produce high-grade iron ore with 66.5 per cent purity — among the world’s highest.

Friedland has dubbed the output from the site, also known as Nimba, as the “beluga caviar” of iron ore. Ivanhoe Atlantic says it could start shipping as soon as the first half of 2027.

The Liberian government issued its “handbill” finalising the decision earlier this month, according to a copy of the document seen by the FT, after the legislature ratified the bill in December.

Previously, priority use of the rail line had belonged to its operator ArcelorMittal, the Indian conglomerate that is also a big investor in Liberia.

Ivanhoe Atlantic’s majority shareholder is I-Pulse, a private technology company founded and chaired by Friedland, who is also the founder of Toronto-listed Ivanhoe Mines.