Maaden forms JV to acquire copper project, contributes SAR 787 mln

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) agreed today to form a joint venture with Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation to acquire, develop and operate the Jabal Sayid copper project at Medina, a Tadawul filing said.

The resulting firm will be 50-50 owned by the two partners, and Maaden will invest around USD 210 million (SAR 787 million) to buy its stake in the resulting company, which will be financed from the company’s internal resources.

The acquisition will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014, “subject to the approval of related authorities,” the Tadawul filing added.

Production will start by late 2015, and the project, when operational, will produce up to 60,000 tonnes of copper annually.

The company put the project’s estimated reserve at around 650,000 tones and expected mine life is around 15 years.