A firm planning to mine uranium in northern Italy has drawn up plans for a London float as it seeks to capitalise on renewed interest in nuclear technology.<\/p>\n
Reveille Resources, which will be operated by Ippolito Ingo Cattaneo alongside his father, Andrea Cattaneo, is preparing to join London\u2019s small-cap Aquis exchange as soon as this week.<\/p>\n
The firm said<\/a> its initial focus will be on two historical uranium deposits in Lombardy, northern Italy, known as Novazza and Val Vedello, for which licence applications were submitted last year.<\/p>\n Evidence of uranium at the locations was first identified as far back as 1912, before exploration began in the 1950s as part of Italy\u2019s first nuclear energy programme.<\/p>\n Exploration at the sites was suspended in the 1980s after the Chornobyl disaster triggered widespread environmental concerns over nuclear energy.<\/p>\n But now, with warnings over Europe\u2019s energy dependency on Russia and governments scrambling to invest in small modular reactor (SMR) technology<\/a>, Reveille Resources hopes to be able to reopen the sites for further uranium mining.<\/p>\n \u2018Renewed interest\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAgainst a backdrop of increasing concerns regarding energy security and access to natural gas supplies from Russia and the Middle East, together with the growing recognition of nuclear energy as a source of low-carbon baseload electricity, European governments, including Italy, are demonstrating renewed interest in nuclear energy, particularly in the development of small modular reactor technologies,\u201d Reveille said.<\/p>\n \u201cConcurrently, there is an increasing strategic focus on securing domestic and Western-aligned sources of critical and strategic minerals, including uranium.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cattaneos are set to own around one-fifth of the company following its float, while other mining companies they are involved in will also have shares, along with participation by New Jersey-based Yorkville Advisors Global, which has financed other energy-related firms, including London-listed Fermi.<\/p>\n The company expects to be admitted to Aquis on Thursday.<\/p>\n