By Pesha Magid
RIYADH (Reuters) – Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, is in talks with Saudi Arabia over possible joint investments in the metal, the company’s chairman told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
On Codelco’s production, chairman Maximo Pacheco said the company’s own production is expected to increase by about 70,000 tons to about 1.4 million tons by 2025.
Pacheco said the state-owned company was in discussions with Saudi Arabia as there was a clear need on both sides to add value.
“We would be very open to considering joint investment opportunities,” Pacheco said in an interview after a meeting of miners for the kingdom’s annual Future Minerals Forum.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing crucial minerals including copper and lithium and is seeking to become a hub for battery and electric vehicle production as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to transition the economy away from oil.
Pacheco said he met with the Saudi mining minister and representatives of Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company and the kingdom’s $925 billion public investment fund.
He said he hoped an announcement could emerge from the discussions in the coming months.
“The markets are moving very fast. So obviously we have to move fast too,” Pacheco said.
He said he had discussed technology transfers with Saudi Arabia, noting the kingdom’s experiences with desalination. The two sides also discussed the introduction of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in mining.
Saudi Mining Minister Bandar al-Khorayaf previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia was interested in Chile’s lithium assets.
Codelco is looking for a partner for a large lithium project in the Maricunga salt flat. Pacheco said the company had shortlisted potential investors and Saudi companies were not on that list.
He suggested the board vote on the project in March.
Faced with declining ore grades, accidents and errors on major construction projects, Codelco has struggled to lift production from a 25-year low and ramped up output at year’s end to meet its 2024 target of 1.328 million tonnes .
(Reporting by Pesha Magid; Editing by Veronica Brown and Tomasz Janowski)