Logos ofSaudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden)
Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) today announced the signing of a shareholders’ agreement to form a joint venture to unlock new opportunities in mineral exploration and hard-rock mining in the Kingdom. 
Combining the strengths of two leaders in their respective fields, the JV would focus on copper and other minerals critical to the energy transition, according to a statement.
The JV is expected to be owned 51% by Maaden and 49% by Aramco and would focus on exploration across Zone-4, also known as the Transition Zone, within the Arabian Platform.
Spanning approximately 182,000 square kilometers, nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia’s total land area, the expected exploration area stretches along a 100-kilometer-wide zone running parallel to the Arabian Shield, according to the statement.
Copper will be a main focus of the JV that will also explore for other energy transition minerals including zinc, lead, and rare earth elements that are expected to be crucial to industries of the future.
Leveraging advanced computational algorithms, AI, and high-performance computing, the JV intends to target areas most likely to contain copper and valuable minerals, accelerating the path from regional screening to target definition and discovery.
This is expected to support long-term sector development, reinforce the Kingdom’s role in the global minerals value chain, and help meet rising demand for transition minerals.
The effectiveness of the shareholders’ agreement and the incorporation of the JV is conditional upon the fulfillment of certain condition precedents, including, but not limited to, obtaining all the required corporate and regulatory approvals and antitrust clearance, the statement added.
In January 2025, Aramco and Maaden announced the signing of non-binding heads of terms for the formation of a minerals exploration and mining JV in the Kingdom, with a focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies, as per Argaam’s data.
Logos ofSaudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden)
Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) today announced the signing of a shareholders’ agreement to form a joint venture to unlock new opportunities in mineral exploration and hard-rock mining in the Kingdom.
Combining the strengths of two leaders in their respective fields, the JV would focus on copper and other minerals critical to the energy transition, according to a statement.
The JV is expected to be owned 51% by Maaden and 49% by Aramco and would focus on exploration across Zone-4, also known as the Transition Zone, within the Arabian Platform.
Spanning approximately 182,000 square kilometers, nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia’s total land area, the expected exploration area stretches along a 100-kilometer-wide zone running parallel to the Arabian Shield, according to the statement.
Copper will be a main focus of the JV that will also explore for other energy transition minerals including zinc, lead, and rare earth elements that are expected to be crucial to industries of the future.
Leveraging advanced computational algorithms, AI, and high-performance computing, the JV intends to target areas most likely to contain copper and valuable minerals, accelerating the path from regional screening to target definition and discovery.
This is expected to support long-term sector development, reinforce the Kingdom’s role in the global minerals value chain, and help meet rising demand for transition minerals.
The effectiveness of the shareholders’ agreement and the incorporation of the JV is conditional upon the fulfillment of certain condition precedents, including, but not limited to, obtaining all the required corporate and regulatory approvals and antitrust clearance, the statement added.
In January 2025, Aramco and Maaden announced the signing of non-binding heads of terms for the formation of a minerals exploration and mining JV in the Kingdom, with a focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies, as per Argaam’s data.
