URA Holdings

What URA Holdings does

URA Holdings PLC is an African-focused mineral exploration and gemstone mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: URAH) since March 2022, operating from London with an operations base in Lusaka, Zambia. The company was formerly known as Uranium Resources before rebranding in December 2017 and pivoting away from uranium into a multi-commodity mineral exploration strategy targeting politically stable jurisdictions in Southern and Central Africa. URA controls three primary assets: the historic Gravelotte Emerald Mine in South Africa (acquired March 2022 for GBP 100,000 plus a royalty capped at AUD 2 billion), a 65% stake in Prasinus Exploration Pty Ltd which owns the Curlew Emerald Mine in Western Australia (acquired July 2024 for A$450,000, mining lease valid to 2044), and Malaika Exploration Limited in Zambia, holding two large-scale exploration licences covering 1,284 km² for graphite, coltan, lithium and rare earth elements.

The core technology consists of conventional mineral exploration and small-scale open-pit mining, leveraging existing infrastructure at Gravelotte (open cuts, processing facilities, historical production database spanning 1929–1982 with ~113 million carats recorded) and an active small-scale operation at Curlew. URA's revenue model is project-based and B2B: emeralds and other minerals produced are intended for sale to global gemstone traders and auction houses, with no disclosed pricing model and no named customers. The business is currently pre-revenue or at very early production, with the February 2024 placement of GBP 475,000 explicitly funding "the start of production" at Gravelotte.

The company is led by a technically credentialed board: Non-Executive Chairman Edward Nealon co-founded Aquarius Platinum, Sylvania Platinum and Tanzanite One; CEO Bernard Olivier is a geologist with 22 years of mining experience; and Non-Executive Director Peter Redmond has 35 years of corporate finance experience. Ownership is concentrated, with African Critical Metals Limited holding 42.30% of issued share capital. Two small equity placings (GBP 475,000 in Feb 2024 and GBP 425,000 in Jul 2024) have been the primary sources of growth capital, indicating ongoing reliance on equity issuance to fund acquisitions and operations.

Name

URA Holdings

Legal name

URA Holdings PLC

Website

https://uraholdingsplc.co.uk

Company type

Public

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

URA Holdings PLC is an African-focused mineral exploration and gemstone mining company (LSE: URAH) that produces emeralds from the Gravelotte Mine in South Africa and Curlew Mine in Western Australia, and explores for critical minerals (graphite, lithium, REEs) in Zambia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emerald Mining

NAICS

Other Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying (21239), Metal Ore Mining (2122), Support Activities for Metal Mining (213114)

SIC

Mining & Quarrying Of Nonmetallic Minerals (No Fuels) (1400), Miscellaneous Metal Ores (1090)

akta.pro primary industry

Exploration & Resource Development (Critical Minerals) (IMAKAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Rare Earths Mining & Concentrates (REE Ores) (IMAKAFAG), Mine Development & Processing EPC (Critical Minerals) (IMAKAFAM)

Keywords

• Emerald mining
• Mineral exploration
• Gemstone production
• Strategic minerals
• Mining operations

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

URA Holdings PLC is an African-focused mineral exploration and gemstone mining company that acquires, develops, and operates emerald mining assets. The company operates the historic Gravelotte Emerald Mine in South Africa, holds a 65% stake in the Curlew Emerald Mine in Western Australia, and through its Malaika Exploration Limited subsidiary holds large-scale exploration licenses in Zambia covering graphite, coltan, lithium, and rare earth elements. The company focuses on identifying under-explored mineral opportunities in politically stable regions of Southern and Central Africa for ongoing monetisation and stakeholder returns.

Product overview

URA Holdings PLC is an African-focused mineral exploration and gemstone mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company operates two emerald mining assets: the Gravelotte Emerald Mine in South Africa (acquired 2022) producing approximately 3 million carats annually, and the Curlew Emerald Mine in Western Australia (65% stake acquired July 2024). Through its Malaika Exploration Limited subsidiary, URA holds exploration licenses in Zambia covering strategic minerals including graphite, coltan, lithium, and rare earth elements. The company focuses on under-explored mineral opportunities in Southern and Central Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gravelotte Emerald Mine: Historically one of the largest emerald mines in the world, operational from 1929 to 2002 with total recorded production of nearly 113 million carats.
• Malaika Exploration Limited

Products and services

• Gravelotte Emerald Mine Historic emerald mining operation located in Limpopo Province, South Africa, operational from 1929 to 2002 with total recorded historical production of nearly 113 million carats. URA Holdings acquired the mine in March 2022 and has projected initial production of approximately 3 million carats per annum. The mine holds granted Mining Licence and Permits, and benefits from existing open cuts, processing facilities, and extensive historical databases.
• Curlew Emerald Mine Active small-scale open-pit emerald mine in Western Australia with a mining lease valid until 2044. URA Holdings acquired a 65% stake via Prasinus Exploration in July 2024 and holds an option to purchase the remaining 35% for A$300,000 in shares.
• Malaika Exploration Limited Zambian exploration subsidiary holding two large-scale exploration licenses covering 1,284 km² in north east Zambia, targeting high-grade graphite, coltan (containing niobium & tantalum), lithium, and rare earth elements (REEs).

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ADIT Mining (Proprietary) LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerURA's 74%-owned Gem Venus holds 74% of ADIT Mining which, together with Venus Emerald, holds all mineral rights for emerald mining at the Gravelotte project. The remaining 26% is held by a Black Economic Empowerment structure including local employees and community.
• Venus Emerald (Proprietary) LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenus Emerald holds mineral rights in conjunction with ADIT Mining for the Gravelotte Emerald Mine project.
• Prasinus Exploration Pty LtdcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerURA Holdings acquired a 65% stake in Prasinus Exploration, owner of the Curlew Emerald Mine in Western Australia, for A$450,000 with an option to purchase the remaining 35% for A$300,000 in shares.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• African Critical Metals Limited: African Critical Metals holds 42.30% of URA's issued share capital. It is comparable as a strategic shareholder and fellow African-focused critical minerals company, though not a direct operating competitor.

Direct peers

• Fura Gems Inc. Fura Gems is a TSX-listed emerald miner operating the Coscuez mine in Colombia and has historically held interests in Mozambique ruby assets. It competes with URA in the same niche-coloured-gemstone mining category with a similar small-cap, single-commodity focus.
• Mwabu Emeralds: Mwabu operates small-scale emerald mining in Zambia, adjacent to URA's Malaika licence area. It is a directly comparable operator in the same Zambian gemstone geography with similar early-stage operating profile.
• Gemfields Group Limited: Gemfields is the world's leading coloured gemstone producer, operating the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique. It is the most direct comparable to URA's emerald-focused strategy and African asset footprint, with significantly larger scale.

Emerging players

• Mkango Resources Ltd. Mkango is developing the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. It overlaps with URA's Malaika REE exploration thesis in Southern Africa and is comparable in size and stage of development.
• Lexington Gold Ltd: Lexington Gold is an AIM-listed gold explorer where both URA's CEO and Chairman currently serve as directors. Comparable as a small-cap UK-listed early-stage mining developer with shared board/management overlap.
• Pensana plc: Pensana is an LSE-listed developer of the Longonjo rare earths project in Angola and the Saltend processing hub in the UK. It is comparable to URA's African critical minerals strategy, specifically Malaika's REE focus, and similar in scale and listing venue.
• Bezant Resources plc: Bezant is an AIM-listed junior where URA's CEO Bernard Olivier previously established a 3.9 Moz JORC gold resource. It is comparable as a small-cap UK-listed early-stage mining developer with shared management pedigree.

Broad incumbents

• Tanzanite One Limited: Tanzanite One is an AIM-listed coloured gemstone producer co-founded by URA's Chairman Edward Nealon. Comparable as a niche gemstone miner with overlapping board heritage, providing a public-market template for single-commodity gemstone valuations.
• Sylvania Platinum Limited: Sylvania Platinum is an AIM/ASX-listed PGM producer in South Africa's Bushveld Complex, co-founded by URA's Chairman Edward Nealon. Comparable as a Southern African small-cap miner with overlapping board pedigree, though focused on platinum group metals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ura_plc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uranium-resources-plc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about URA Holdings