Clean Energy Finance Corporation chucks $117m of taxpayer money into James McClement’s Resource Capital Funds

The Federal Government’s renewable energy investment arm has handed over $US75 million ($117m) to the West Perth-based private equity firm controlled by under-fire Mineral Resources chair James McClements. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation says the investment in the mining-focused Resource Capital Funds will help drive “Australia’s emerging critical mineral supply chain and build further momentum in the clean energy transition”. The money has been earmarked for RCF’s “flagship private equity fund” but no detail on specific projects or commodities was revealed. CEFC director for WA Jacqueline Lane, who has previously worked at RCF, said the world “urgently needs a strong supply of critical minerals” for the clean energy transition. “From the lithium and nickel for batteries to the copper for transmission, we must secure these minerals quickly and sustainably,” she said. “RCF is a highly experienced mining investment house. Our work with them will enhance environmental standards and reinforce the competitive advantage of Australian minerals in the global market with the potential to further develop onshore downstream processing infrastructure with financial discipline.” Ms Lane was an investment manager at RCF for nine years up until 2022, according to her LinkedIn. A CEFC spokeswoman said the organisation has “robust policies and procedures” to identify and manage conflicts of interest. “Mrs Lane was a member of the CEFC deal team for the transaction and made all appropriate disclosures regarding her former employment at RCF, both at the time of joining the CEFC and in the context of the transaction,” the spokeswoman said. “The decision to invest with RCF was taken by the CEFC Executive Investment Committee acting under delegation from the CEFC board.” RCF was co-founded in 1998 by Mr McClements, who still serves as the managing partner. Mr McClements has been in the spotlight recently for his role in the corporate governance failures that have engulfed MinRes. He will leave as the company’s chair before the end of November next year. His successor will be tasked with a finding a replacement for the disgraced MinRes boss Chris Ellison. Mr Ellison last month was found to have evaded tax on co-owned offshore companies, misused company resources for his own benefit, and allegedly profited on deals at the expense of MinRes shareholders. The MinRes board, headed by Mr McClements, reportedly became aware of some of these issues in June 2022 but did not disclose them publicly.