Saudi Arabia has launched a mining fund that plans to invest up to $15bn in overseas assets, according to people familiar with the details, as it works to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The venture, 51 per cent owned by Saudi state-owned miner Ma’aden and the remainder by the country’s Public Investment Fund, will take non-operating minority stakes in mining projects internationally, the two companies said yesterday. That will help Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest oil producer, to secure resources such as iron ore, copper, nickel and lithium for domestic mineral processing and other industrial activities such as steelmaking. They said the $50mn represented its first year of working capital and the $3bn the sum intended for investment over the next 12 months.
Given the scale of projects in commodity markets, the fund is prepared to deploy more than $15bn of capital for investment over the coming years as suitable opportunities emerge, the people added. The investments will provide «critical minerals to ensure supply security for domestic minerals downstream sectors and Saudi Arabia as a key partner in global supply-chain resilience», the companies said.
Dependence on fossil fuels is not good for anyone. Also, dependence on a single source of energy is not a good idea, no matter the energy source.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good investment. Let's see where it leads.
ReplyDelete