The American company Critical Metals, which concluded an agreement with the Romanian state-owned company Nuclearelectrica for the partnership construction of a processing plant in Feldioara for the rare earths that the former extracts from Greenland, is actually controlled by the Romanian businessman Frank Timiș, who was, among other things, behind the Roșia Montană project, according to Economica.net, citing Newsweek Romania.

After Romania won an arbitration against Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, the foreign investor still has to pay compensation.

In July this year, Newsweek Romania reported that Frank Timis controls, from the shadows, Critical Metals – which in turn holds rights over one of the world's most important rare metal deposits in Greenland.

According to sources cited by Newsweek Romania, Timis holds the controlling stake in European Lithium, a company listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, which in turn controls almost 80% of Critical Metals Corp., listed on the New York stock exchange. Critical Metals, in turn, holds the Tanbreez project, one of the largest rare earth deposits on the planet.

Separately, Ziarul Financiar identified European Lithium as the main shareholder behind Critical Metals – with a stake of 45% (compared to 80% indicated by Newsweek Romania). The main shareholders of European Lithium are custodian wrappers (BNP Paribas Nominees - 41.5%, HSBC Custody Nominees - 8.6%, Citicorp Nominees - 5.0%) that are vehicles used to obscure the final beneficiary.

Critical Metals Corp., registered in the British Virgin Islands, was the result of a complex merger completed in February 2024 between Sizzle Acquisition Corp., European Lithium Limited, and other vehicles in Australia and the BVI. Following its listing, the company began a series of transactions through which it acquired interests in the Tanbreez project in southern Greenland – one of the largest heavy rare earth (HREE) deposits in the world.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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