Saudi Arabia ‘Mulling $100m Investment’ in Pakistan’s Mining Sector

Saudi minister confirms Kingdom's mining company is looking to invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine

Wed Jan 15 2025
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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Mining Minister, Bandar Alkhorayef, confirmed on Wednesday that the kingdom’s mining company, Manara Minerals, is exploring investment opportunities in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine adding that the Saudi Development Fund could contribute more than $100 million to Pakistan’s mining infrastructure.

“Part of what we are looking at is how we can help Pakistan also in some infrastructure,” Alkhorayef said in an interview on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.

“Without that infrastructure, the economics of the deal are not attractive, so through the Saudi Development Fund we are thinking about how we can finance it,” he said.

The statement followed comments made by Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik a day earlier, in which he indicated that Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals could invest in the Reko Diq mine within the next two quarters.

“I’m very hopeful that in the next quarter or two we will have very big announcements,” Malik said on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, adding they would be copper-related.

“So we’re very hopeful that this year, we will make some big announcements, both in the way of Reko Diq, but hopefully also” in mines around it, he added.

Asked if Manara would be involved, Malik said, “Why not, of course.”

Manara, a joint venture between the state-controlled Ma’aden and the $925 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), was established as part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to diversify its economy beyond oil, including by acquiring minority stakes in international assets.

In May of the previous year, executives from Manara visited Pakistan to discuss the possibility of acquiring a stake in the Reko Diq mine. The mine is regarded as one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world by global mining company Barrick Gold.

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