By Pesha Magid
RIYADH (Reuters) – Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, is in talks with Saudi Arabia over potential joint investments within the metal, the corporate’s chairman told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
On Codelco’s output, Chairman Maximo Pacheco said the corporate’s own production for 2025 was expected to rise by about 70,000 metric tons to around 1.4 million tons.
Pacheco said the state-owned company had been in discussions with Saudi Arabia as there was a transparent need on each side so as to add value.
“We could be very open to considering joint investment opportunities,” said Pacheco in an interview following a gathering of miners for the dominion’s annual Future Minerals Forum.
Saudi Arabia has been pursuing critical minerals including copper and lithium, bidding to grow to be a hub for battery and electric vehicle manufacturing as a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to wean the economy off oil.
Pacheco said he had met with the Saudi mining minister and representatives from Manara Minerals, a three way partnership between Saudi Arabian Mining Company and the dominion’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund.
He said that he hoped that an announcement from the discussions could emerge in the approaching months.
“The markets move very fast. So obviously we want to maneuver fast as well,” said Pacheco.
He said he had discussed technology transfers with Saudi Arabia, noting the dominion’s experience with desalination. The 2 sides also talked about introducing latest technologies, such artificial intelligence, into mining.
Saudi Arabia’s mining minister Bandar al-Khorayaf previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia was thinking about Chile’s lithium assets.
Codelco has been in search of a partner on a serious lithium project within the Maricunga salt flat. Pacheco said the corporate had short-listed potential investors and Saudi firms weren’t on that list.
He suggested the board would vote on the project in March.
Faced with declining ore grades, accidents and mistakes at major construction projects, Codelco has been struggling to lift production from 25-year lows and revved up output at the top of the yr to hit its 2024 goal of reaching 1.328 million metric tons.
(Reporting by Pesha Magid; Editing by Veronica Brown and Tomasz Janowski)