PIF plans Manara Minerals spinoff to move beyond investing

The Saudi Public Investment Fund plans to spin off Manara Minerals, a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden).

The spinoff will allow Manara Minerals to move from being only an investment vehicle to having more technical capability, industry and mineral resources minister Bandar Al-Khorayef told Reuters.

“PIF is a large investor, but they don’t have mining expertise,” he said.

No timeframe for the spinoff was given, but discussions over new shareholders in Manara were ongoing, with the possibility of Saudi or foreign investors, Al-Khorayef said.

Manara was established in 2023 to invest in critical minerals abroad. Maaden holds a 51 percent share in the joint venture. PIF, in turn, owns 67 percent of Maaden. 

In July 2023, Manara announced the acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Vale Base Metals, a subsidiary of Brazil’s Vale. 

Last year, Manara and Pakistan failed to close a deal over acquiring a stake in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine in southwestern Pakistan.

The proposed deal with Manara is on hold because Pakistan does not want to sell down its stake in the mine, Muhammad Imran Akhtar, deputy director at Frontier Works, told AGBI.

In October 2024, Robert Wilt, CEO of Maaden, said Manara was targeting long-term deals and not looking to “flip a quick return” during the market slump.

Riyadh estimates its untapped mineral resources, including phosphate, gold, bauxite and rare earth elements, at nearly $2.5 trillion.

Maaden announced on Wednesday plans to invest $110 billion over the next decade in what its CEO described as “the largest capital programme in the history of mining”.

Further reading:

• Pakistan in mining project talks with Saudi companies
• Oman secures $400m loan for copper mining project
• Maaden shares jump 5% after new gold reserve estimates