Saudi Cabinet Welcomes Launch of Multinational Maritime Defense Alliance

Saudi Aramco and Maaden are joining forces to unlock new opportunities in mineral exploration and hard-rock mining within Saudi Arabia through a new joint venture. This partnership aims to focus on copper and other minerals essential for the global energy transition.

The joint venture, with Maaden holding a 51% stake and Aramco 49%, will concentrate its exploration efforts across Zone-4, also known as the Transition Zone, within the Arabian Platform. This area spans approximately 182,000 square kilometers, representing nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia's total landmass and running parallel to the Arabian Shield.

Saleh M. Al Saleh, Aramco Vice President of Transition Minerals, highlighted the strategic advantage of combining Aramco's vast geological and geophysical data, accumulated over 90 years, with Maaden's exploration expertise. He stated that this legacy information, coupled with high-performance computing and AI, will be pivotal in accelerating the discovery of key transition minerals efficiently.

“

Over 90 years, Aramco has accumulated and analyzed the largest amount of geological and geophysical data ever acquired in a single basin for the Kingdom. This partnership intends to leverage this legacy information to find minerals in the JV area within the basin. 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.

Darryl Clark, Maaden Executive Vice President for Exploration, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the venture will extend Maaden's existing exploration ambitions into a new territory. By merging Maaden's development expertise with Aramco's deep knowledge of the Arabian Platform, the partnership anticipates faster, smarter exploration and new discoveries of minerals vital for future industries.

The JV's primary focus will be copper, a metal crucial for electric vehicles, power grids, and renewable energy systems, with the global copper market projected to grow significantly. The venture will also explore for other energy transition minerals like zinc, lead, and rare earth elements, aiming to bolster Saudi Arabia's position in the global minerals value chain and meet increasing demand.

“

Maaden has been advancing one of the world’s largest single jurisdiction exploration programs across the Arabian Shield to help unlock the Kingdom’s mineral potential. This joint venture would take that ambition into a new area. By combining Maaden’s exploration and development expertise with Aramco’s extraordinary knowledge of the Arabian Platform, we would have an opportunity to move faster, explore smarter, and create new opportunities to discover the minerals that will power the energy transition.