London-listed critical metal-focused exploration and development company Aterian has signed a $4.5-million trade finance agreement with a global commodity trading and financial house.

The company said in a statement on April 23 that the agreement marked a transformational step forward for Aterian's trading division and represented the tangible execution of the company's strategic vision to build a scalable, revenue-generating platform supporting its exploration and development activities across Africa.

"This facility . . . marks a pivotal step in transitioning Aterian from a solely exploration-focused company to an operational trading entity capable of generating consistent revenues,” Aterian chairperson Charles Bray said.

He added that this income-generating structure would reduce Aterian’s dependency on equity financing and enable the acceleration of its commercial strategy.

The agreement enables the immediate funding of tantalum, niobium and cassiterite consignments and positions Aterian to benefit from commodity sales while leveraging minimal upfront capital.

“We remain deeply focused on our core strategy [of] unlocking the value of Africa's critical mineral resources while ensuring a financially disciplined approach.

“Combined with our existing exploration partnerships, including the joint venture (JV) with Rio Tinto in Rwanda, this agreement significantly strengthens our platform for long-term success,” Bray said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the financier will provide a $4.5-million operational trading facility to provide funding of the traded minerals and will be used immediately to fund the additional trading of tantalum, niobium and cassiterite.

The trade facility has an interest rate of one-month secured overnight financing rate plus 3.5%. The agreement has a five-year facility period, starting immediately.

This trade facility provides Aterian with immediate capital to expand its mineral trading business by significantly scaling up its mineral sourcing and trading volumes across Rwanda and the broader region. This development is expected to contribute to early and growing revenues, reinforcing the company's goal to cover operational expenditures through trading cash flows.

Aterian's strategy is centred on developing critical minerals across Rwanda, Morocco and Botswana, particularly copper and lithium assets. Several high-priority exploration projects are under way, as the company attempts to position itself as a key player in Africa's critical metals exploration industry.

Aterian’s partnership-driven exploration model has demonstrated some success so far with its lithium exploration JV with Rio Tinto in Rwanda, which began in late 2023.

This JV is expected to shortly demonstrate results, which will also include the potential for tin, tantalum and niobium discovery. Aterian said these so-called byproduct minerals are value-added to the company in all cases.

The company said its collaborative approach will continue to be a cornerstone of its strategy for ensuring sustainable growth, minimising expenditure and advancing its priority projects.

The completed drill programme on the Rwandan Rio Tinto JV project, named HCK, comprised four drill holes for 1 180 m, targeting the HCK-1 and HCK-2 prospects. A total of 870 diamond core drill samples were submitted for laboratory assay analysis in the first quarter, with the results now being received and analysed by Rio Tinto.