Shares in the company were up 15 per cent to 30 cents at midday following the announcement.

Sir Mick started Xstrata which was taken over by Glencore a decade ago in a bitterly fought battle which Davis regarded as his biggest regret. He was also in the running for the job of Rio Tinto chair.

He is also on the board of Coronado Coal, which owns the Curragh mine in central Queensland.

He raised $US40 billion from markets and transacted $US120 billion for various mining projects and was a treasurer and chief executive of the British Conservative Party.

The Brisbane-based Mayur, led by Paul Mulder, said the $40 million would give Vision Blue a 49 per cent stake in the project and would satisfy the equity component of the project.

Mayur and VBR would now work togther to find the $Us70 million in debt needed for the project.

Mulder said the company was thrilled to have Davis and VBR on board.

“The project will see PNG become a pivotal contributor to the regional and global lime industry with demand for lime set to continue to rapidly expand as a key input in the global energy transition,” Mulder said.

He said the lime project would create significant employment opportunities and deliver benefits to local landowners.

Sir Mick said the importance of lime to the processing of minerals was considerable and Mayur’s leadership was world class.

“The project in PNG is compelling in terms of its size, scalability and quality, given the high calcium content of the deposit,” Sir Mick said.

He said it had a low-risk profile which aligned with VBR’s investment criteria. It was also fully permitted and construction had already started.