By: AGBI

Maaden plans to invest $110 billion over the next decade in what the Saudi company’s CEO has described as “the largest capital programme in the history of mining”.

“We are deploying capital at an unprecedented pace,” Bob Wilt said on Wednesday at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.

Analysts described the new investment target as “staggering”, suggesting it could position the mining giant to seek mergers and acquisitions with international rivals.

Over five years Maaden will roll out a “major capital programme” that will “triple our phosphate business, double our aluminium business and triple our gold business”, Wilt said.

It is looking to triple its exploration efforts compared to last year, which Wilt said was already “one of the largest exploration programmes globally for the last few years”.

Earlier this week Maaden announced it had discovered 7.8 million ounces of gold deposits last year. “That’s the first chapter of a great book of exploration,” he said.

The announcement contributed to a stock rally this week with shares in Maaden reaching record highs. Its stock price on the Saudi Exchange closed at SAR71.50 on Wednesday, 13 percent higher than the previous Thursday and 52 percent up on a year ago.

Globally, the price of gold has rallied this week, surpassing $4,500 an ounce.

Analysts who spoke to AGBI expressed surprise at the $110 billion figure, which is roughly equivalent to the GDP of Oman.

“This is something staggering,” said Anoop Fernandes, vice president of research at Bahraini investment bank Sico. “The implication is that they want to create another Maaden. And Maaden is not a small company.”

Maaden has previously said it hopes to become the world’s most valuable mining company by market capitalisation. Its current market cap is $7.3 billion.

A subsidiary of the $930 billion Public Investment Fund, Maaden announced 2024 revenues of SAR32.6 billion and SAR2.9 billion in net profit.

“It’s a cash machine,” said Fernandes, who suggested the investment positions Maaden to compete for global M&A deals at a time of movement in the industry. 

Last week it was reported that Glencore and Rio Tinto were in talks over a merger. A tie-up would create the largest mining company in the world by far, with a potential market value of $207 billion.

“There’s a lot brewing in the metals and mining space,” Fernandes said, “and sovereign wealth funds in this region want to have a piece of this.”

Maaden could be a player within this. “There is both the firepower and the push from the government,” he said.

Saudi Arabia hopes to make mining the “third pillar” of its economy, under its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.

“The scale of the investment signals the kingdom’s ambition to emerge as a global mining hub and a key player in critical mineral supply chains amid the energy transition,” said Tahir Abbas, head of research at Omani investment company Ubhar Capital. 

“Rather than a strategic shift, it represents an acceleration of the company’s long-term transformation into a diversified mining champion, with growing exposure to gold, base metals and critical minerals,” Abbas said. 

“However, its ultimate impact will depend on execution, project phasing, commodity cycles, and the ability to attract technical expertise and capital.”

At the Future Minerals Forum, Wilt added that Maaden’s plans would require large amounts of investment from the government for “getting the pipelines built, getting the rail import infrastructure built … at the same time, bringing in the talent. We’re humble enough to know that we can’t do this alone.”

Maaden has signed agreements with various international mining companies: Brazil’s Vale, US miner Ivanhoe Electrick, Australia’s Hancock Prospecting and Canada’s Barrick Gold.

Barrick is the only foreign company currently mining in Saudi Arabia at the Jabal Sayid mine, which it operates with Maaden.