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Aramco, Maaden Form Joint Venture to Explore Saudi Arabia's Transition Minerals

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Saudi Aramco and Maaden have signed an agreement to form a joint venture targeting mineral exploration and hard-rock mining opportunities in Saudi Arabia, Aramco said Tuesday.

Maaden will own 51% of the venture, while Aramco will hold 49%, with exploration focused on Zone-4, or the Transition Zone, within the Arabian Platform.

The planned exploration area covers about 182,000 square kilometers, nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia's land, across a 100-kilometer-wide zone parallel to the Arabian Shield.

Copper will be a key focus of the venture as demand for the metal rises in electric vehicles, power networks, energy storage, and renewable energy systems.

Copper accounts for over 20% of the $1.2 trillion mined-metals market. The copper market currently stands at about $250 billion and could exceed $400 billion by 2035. The venture will also target zinc, lead and rare earth elements.

"Maaden's expertise, our people, high-performance computing, and AI are expected to play a pivotal role in accelerating the discovery of key transition minerals at low cost," said Saleh M. Al Saleh, Aramco Vice President of Transition Minerals.

The partners plan to use artificial intelligence, advanced algorithms and high-performance computing to identify promising mineral deposits.

The joint venture remains subject to required corporate, regulatory and antitrust approvals before the agreement takes effect.

Maaden Executive Vice President for Exploration Darryl Clark said the venture would combine Maaden's exploration expertise with Aramco's knowledge of the Arabian Platform to accelerate mineral discovery and support the energy transition.

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