Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company have signed a shareholders’ agreement to establish a joint venture focused on mineral exploration, targeting copper and transition minerals across nearly 10 percent of the Kingdom’s land area under a proposed 51-49 ownership structure first disclosed in January 2025.
State energy giant Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, known as Maaden, have formalized their partnership to explore 182,000 square kilometers of Saudi territory for high-value mineral deposits. The joint venture centers on Zone-4, also designated as the Transition Zone within the Arabian Platform, running parallel to the Arabian Shield along a roughly 100-kilometer-wide corridor.
Targeting Copper and Critical Transition Minerals
Under the proposed corporate structure, Maaden will hold a 51 percent majority stake in the joint venture, while Aramco will own the remaining 49 percent. The initiative prioritizes copper due to its accelerating demand across electric vehicles, electricity networks, energy storage, and renewable energy installations. Beyond copper, the companies intend to explore for zinc, lead, and rare earth elements.
Market projections underline the financial stakes driving the agreement. The global copper market is currently valued at approximately $250 billion and is projected to exceed $400 billion by 2035. The venture will also explore for other transition minerals, including zinc, lead and rare earth elements. The JV plans to deploy advanced computational algorithms, AI and high-performance computing to identify areas with the greatest potential for copper and other valuable mineral deposits, shortening the process from regional screening to target identification and discovery. The initiative is expected to support the long-term development of Saudi Arabia’s mining sector, strengthen the Kingdom’s position in the global minerals value chain and help address rising international demand for minerals required by energy-transition industries.
Combining Decades of Data With Advanced Computing
The partnership relies on merging Aramco’s vast geological archives with Maaden’s operational footprint. Executives emphasized that technological integration will shorten the timeline from regional screening to actual discovery. Aramco plans to contribute decades of geological and geophysical data accumulated through its operations, while Maaden will bring its mineral exploration and development expertise.
Saleh Al Saleh, Aramco vice president of Transition Minerals, stated that 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.
He said the partnership intends to leverage that information, alongside high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, to accelerate the discovery of transition minerals at lower cost. Aramco plans to deploy high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced computational algorithms alongside that historical data. Darryl Clark, Maaden executive vice president for Exploration, noted that the collaboration allows both entities to move faster and explore smarter across the Arabian Platform.
Darryl Clark, Maaden executive vice president for Exploration, stated that by combining Maaden’s exploration and development expertise with Aramco’s extraordinary knowledge of the Arabian Platform, they would have an opportunity to move faster, explore smarter, and create new opportunities to discover the minerals that will power the energy transition.
Regulatory Approvals and Concurrent Energy Logistics
The shareholders’ agreement and incorporation of the joint venture remain subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions, including required corporate and regulatory approvals and antitrust clearance.
Saudi Aramco Resumes Oil Loadings and Sales in the Strait of Hormuz
While the mining agreement advances long-term sector development, Aramco concurrently manages ongoing maritime logistics. Saudi Aramco resumed oil loading from inside the Strait of Hormuz last week and has more tankers waiting to load as the state energy giant offers spot heavy crude cargoes, according to shipping data and trade sources. On Monday, the world’s top oil exporter offered some Asian refiners Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude cargoes for loading via ship-to-ship transfers off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates this month. It had halted sales for weeks following attacks on its tanker fleet in the Strait of Hormuz during an escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict last month. Three very large crude carriers (VLCCs) — Malaysia Prosperity, Algeria Prosperity and Singapore Prosperity — loaded 2 million barrels of crude each from the Juaymah and Ras Tanura terminals from August 12 to 16. Data from shiptrackers Vortexa and Kpler showed a gap of three weeks since the last loading at the ports. It was not immediately clear which grades the tankers were carrying. Saudi Aramco has declined to comment. Sinokor, which owns the tankers, did not respond to a request for comment. Six more VLCCs could load Saudi oil from inside the strait later this month, provisional data from Kpler showed.
Traders said Saudi Aramco could deploy Saudi tankers for the Hormuz transit, in addition to Sinokor vessels. Seven VLCCs owned by Saudi-based operator Bahri were floating off the UAE and Oman while two more were heading to Fujairah, shipping data on LSEG showed on Tuesday.
Yemeni Houthi Blockade Curtails Saudi Oil Exports in the Red Sea
However, Saudi oil exports remain curtailed as the producer faces a blockade by the Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea, where Aramco diverted its exports to the port of Yanbu earlier during the Iran war. The producer has offered additional crude cargoes for loading from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir as an alternative, but the volume is a fraction of the pre-blockade level of 4 million barrels per day exported from Yanbu while additional shipping costs and longer voyages are deterring purchases. About 670,000 barrels per day of Middle Eastern crude are expected to be loaded at the Sidi Kerir port for Asia this month, Kpler data showed, from zero in the previous three months.
Emma Li, Vortexa’s China market analyst, noted that this shows the Sidi Kerir offering to Asia is likely not working, as its Asian customers, at least the Chinese, are not happy with the long voyages and high freight cost.
Yemeni Armed Forces Target Aramco Facilities in Abha, Najran, and Jizan
Meanwhile, social media documented the Yemeni Armed Forces executing a targeted operation hitting the Saudi interior. The Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson announced that Aramco in Abha and Najran, the economic zone and Aramco in Jizan, and the Khamis Mushait airbase were targeted with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones, acting in retaliation to 121 airstrikes over the preceding three days.
