London-listed rare earths miner Pensana chairperson Paul Atherley says mining can be both environmentally sustainable and socially developmental.

He tells British radio station BBC Radio 4 that rare earths mining, as with all mining, can play an important role in lifting communities out of poverty.

“Africa can and should profit from its valuable resources without destroying local environments as the fabric of local society,” Atherley explains.

He assures that Pensana has been committed to developing its projects responsibly, with positive impacts and according to the highest possible international standards – be it in Angola or the UK.

Pensana uses hydroelectric power for its mines, while it only mines the top 50 m of the surface. The company also completely rehabilitates land to a better standard than it was prior to Pensana’s involvement.

Responding to the presenter’s question of how foreign-owned miners are often criticised for providing little local employment and contribution to local economies, Atherley insists that Pensana is investing in downstream operations.

“Rather than just digging and shipping raw material ore, we are investing in building a processing facility in Angola to produce a mixture of carbonate, which is a high-value product creating value in the country.”

He adds that Pensana is working to empower local people rather than exploiting them, with the company’s Angolan workforce already comprising 95% locals.

In its 2024 yearly report, Pensana boasts that it was placed in the top 5% of businesses globally for sustainability in a leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) by ratings agency EcoVadis.

The company in the 2022 financial year launched its blueprint for sustainable rare earths, which details an ESG strategy and a mapped out plan of how Pensana intends to achieve 11 sustainability ambitions from across the ESG suite over the short, medium and long term.

In addition to producing the lowest carbon rare earths products, the company also aims to build the world’s first sustainable magnet metal supply chain, with a full-time sustainability manager having been employed since the early stages of the company’s work on rare earths.

The company recognises in a specially designed social and communities policy how vital stakeholder engagement is, as well as endorsing the educational support system for early career candidates from the local community.

Pensana in January 2022 became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, which is a voluntary initiative to encourage CEOs to implement universal sustainable principles and to take steps to support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The compact’s ten principles are split across human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

The company is also a partner of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which demonstrates its clear intent to develop a world class sustainable supply chain for rare earths.