Saudi Aramco, Maaden to form JV to tap mineral exploration in the kingdom

By Staff Writer

Aramco and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) have signed a shareholders’ agreement to form a joint venture which will target mineral exploration and hard-rock mining in the kingdom.

Maaden, which is majority-owned by Saudi wealth fund PIF, will hold a 51% stake in the JV, with Aramco controlling the remaining 49%.

The JV will deploy Aramco’s sub-surface knowledge, computational capabilities, and AI tools with Maaden’s mining expertise.

The JV will target copper and other minerals “critical to the energy transition”, a joint statement read, focusing on Zone-4 or the Transition Zone within the Arabian Platform, representing a 100km stretch running parallel to the Arabian Shield, equivalent to nearly 10% of Saudi’s total land area.

(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)

bindu.rai@lseg.com