Ma’aden buys key stake in top US miner Ivanhoe Electric

Ma’aden buys key stake in top US miner Ivanhoe Electric

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has signed a master clauses agreement to acquire a 9.9% stake in US mining technology company Ivanhoe Electric for $126.5 million.

As per the deal, the duo will be establishing a 50/50 exploration joint venture in the kingdom to contribute to conducting one of the largest exploration programs in the world, said a statement from Maaden.

This joint agreement will grant Ma’aden the rights to use Ivanhoe’s Typhoon geophysical surveying technology, which will in turn accelerate the exploration of mineral sites in the Kingdom, valued at $1.3 trillion in minerals.

This step will contribute to strengthening the Saudi Vision 2030, which places mining as a third pillar of the Saudi economy. It is also considered a key supporter of Ma’aden’s ambitious strategy, which aims to boost its growth by 10 folds by 2040 and to exploit the mineral resources in the Kingdom.

Ma'aden and Ivanhoe Electric will conduct exploration operations on an area estimated at 48,500 sq km of licensed sites in the Kingdom, an area larger than the size of Denmark. The exploration operations target to discover new minerals, such as copper, nickel, gold, silver, and other strategic minerals.

Ma'aden will be able to employ Typhoon technology, which