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Gulf investors in talks to buy stake in US copper project

By Pramod Kumar
HudBay Mineral's Copper World project in Arizona is estimated to produce 85,000 metric tonnes of copper annually HudBay Minerals/X
HudBay Mineral's Copper World project in Arizona is estimated to produce 85,000 metric tonnes of copper annually

Middle East investors are in talks with HudBay Minerals to buy a stake of as much as 30 percent in the Canadian company’s US copper project, a news report said.

The stake sale in HudBay Mineral’s flagship Copper World project in Arizona has drawn interest from investors in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Japan, Bloomberg reported, citing the company’s CEO Peter Kukielski.

Manara Minerals Investment, a venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is one of the interested parties, he said. No company names from the UAE were given, but the CEO pointed to many interested parties.

Saudi Arabia already has interests in copper in Arizona through Ivanhoe Electric Inc, which owns a deposit, and has backing from Ma’aden.

Copper World is located 257 km northwest of Phoenix and is estimated to produce 85,000 metric tonnes of copper annually when completed. The expected mine life is 20 years, the report said.

Copper prices hit their highest in more than five months on Thursday due to potential US tariffs on the metal, Reuters said.

The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metals Exchange was up 0.2 percent to $10,006 a metric tonne, reaching near the highest since October 2, 2024.

Last month Ma’aden CEO said that the company aims to grow ten-fold by 2040 to become the world’s most valuable mining company by market capitalisation.

Saudi Arabia is accelerating development of its copper and other mineral resources, estimated to be worth as much as $2.5 trillion. 

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