RIYADH: 海角直播鈥檚 Mining Minister Bandar Alkhorayef told Reuters on Wednesday that mining company Manara Minerals was looking at investing in Pakistan鈥檚 Reko Diq mine, saying that the Saudi Development Fund could contribute over $100 million to Pakistan鈥檚 mining infrastructure.
Executives from Manara visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine, considered one of the world鈥檚 largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas by global mining company Barrick Gold, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan.聽
Manara, a joint venture between state-controlled miner Ma鈥檃den and the $925 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), was set up as part of the kingdom鈥檚 efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, including by buying minority stakes in assets overseas.
鈥淧art of what we are looking at is how we can help Pakistan also in some infrastructure,鈥 Alkhorayef said in an interview on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.
鈥淲ithout 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.鈥
He also spoke about 海角直播n state oil giant Aramco鈥檚 project to extract lithium, saying it is 鈥減romising, but not yet commercially viable.鈥澛
Aramco has partnered with the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) for the pilot, Bandar Alkhorayef said.聽
Lithium Infinity, also known as Lihytech, a start-up launched out of KAUST, is leading the extraction project with cooperation from Saudi mining company Ma鈥檃den and Aramco.
Lithium is a key component in the batteries of electric cars, laptops, and smartphones. Reuters previously reported that 海角直播 and the United Arab Emirates鈥 national oil companies planned to extract the mineral from oil runoffs.
海角直播 says SFD could contribute over $100 million to Pakistan鈥檚 mining infrastructure
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Updated 21 January 2025
海角直播 says SFD could contribute over $100 million to Pakistan鈥檚 mining infrastructure
- The Kingdom is hosting a three-day Future Minerals Forum summit from Jan. 14-16 in Saudi capital聽
- Saudi minister Bandar Alkhorayef says Manara Minerals looking at investing in Pakistan鈥檚 Reko Diq mine
