Aramco and Maaden form venture to tap Saudi Arabia’s $2.5 trillion mineral wealth

Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Company, collectively known as Maaden, have entered into a joint venture aimed at tapping into Saudi Arabia's vast mineral wealth estimated at $2.5 trillion. The partnership will focus on the exploration and production of critical minerals, including gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, chromium, nickel, tantalum, niobium, and rare earth elements.

Maaden will hold a 51% stake in the venture, while Aramco will own 49%. The joint effort will operate within the 182,000-square-kilometre Transition Zone, also referred to as Zone 4, which lies parallel to the Arabian Shield, a Precambrian geological formation underlying the western third of Saudi Arabia. This new venture will leverage Aramco's extensive geological and geophysical data, accumulated over 90 years, and Maaden's mining expertise, computing capabilities, and AI technologies to identify and exploit mineral deposits.

The initiative aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 agenda, which aims to diversify the economy away from oil and increase the mining sector's contribution to the economy to $240 billion by 2030.