Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) have agreed to form a joint venture to accelerate the exploration and production of critical minerals in the kingdom as part of plans to build a domestic mining industry and diversify its economy beyond oil.
Maaden will own 51 per cent of the venture and Aramco 49 per cent under the shareholders’ agreement, Aramco said on Tuesday. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.
The venture will operate across the 182,000-square kilometre Transition Zone, also known as Zone 4, which runs parallel to the Arabian Shield, a Precambrian geological formation underlying the western third of Saudi Arabia. The area is believed to contain deposits of gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, chromium, nickel, tantalum, niobium and rare earths, according to Vision2030.ai, an intelligence platform.
Saudi Arabia estimates its mineral wealth at $2.5 trillion and is seeking to become a global supplier of critical minerals.
“This joint venture would take that ambition into a new area,” said Darryl Clark, executive vice president for exploration at Riyadh-based Maaden.
It will explore for deposits of base metals including copper, zinc and lead, as well as rare earth elements, Aramco said.
“Over 90 years, Aramco has accumulated and analysed the largest amount of geological and geophysical data ever acquired in a single basin for the kingdom,” said Saleh Al Saleh, vice president of transition minerals at Riyadh-based Aramco.
The partnership will use that data to identify mineral deposits in the joint venture area, drawing on Maaden’s mining expertise and Aramco’s geological data, computing capabilities and AI, Mr Al Saleh added.
Saudi Arabia continues to diversify away from oil, tapping into high-potential sectors such as technology, clean energy and mining.
Mining, in particular, has gained traction in recent years. The country aims to increase the sector's economic contribution to 240 billion Saudi riyals ($64 billion) by 2030, as part of the government's Vision 2030 agenda.
Saudi Aramco this year reported second-quarter net profit of $32.7 billion, up 42 per cent from a year earlier, as higher crude prices offset lower output amid the continuing Iran war.
Maaden, which is majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund, reported a 13 per cent rise in second-quarter profit to nearly $582 million for the three months ending in June.
