Andrada Mining acquisition elevates the miner to emerging mid-tier status. Watch the video here.
Mark your diaries.
MA’ADEN TO PLAY PIVOTAL ROLE IN ADDRESSING INDUSTRY CHALLENGES AT FUTURE MINERALS FORUM 2024
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Future Minerals Forum (FMF) announced today that Ma’aden will return as a Founding Partner to the event for the third consecutive year. Ma’aden, the largest multi-commodity natural resources company in the Middle East, will play a central role again in discussions shaping the global minerals sector during FMF 2024 in January.
This event will focus on creating resilient and responsible mineral value chains in the resource-rich mineral super region of Africa, Western and Central Asia.
Last year at FMF Ma’aden made a series of significant announcements including a major joint venture with PIF, Manara Minerals, supporting global minerals supply chains that are critical to the energy transition.
FMF 2024 will be held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, at the King Abdulaziz International Convention Center in Riyadh from January 9-11, 2024.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/11/13/2779040/0/en/Ma-aden-to-play-pivotal-role-in-addressing-industry-challenges-at-Future-Minerals-Forum-2024.html
...US$6.93 bn in cash, on a cash free debt free basis...
Huge win for Glencore today as they buy Teck's coking coal business.
Huge commitment from GLEN to the key steel making ingredient (key via the BF route of course).
Also some very interesting names in Nippon Steel and POSCO, both of whom have presences in the Gulf region.
'Glencore plc ("Glencore") announces that it has entered into a binding agreement with Teck Resources Limited ("Teck"), for the acquisition of a 77% effective interest in the entirety of Teck's steelmaking coal business, Elk Valley Resources ("EVR"), for US$6.93 bn in cash, on a cash free debt free basis, subject to a normalised level of working capital.
Concurrently, Teck has agreed with Nippon Steel Corporation ("NSC") that its current 2.5% interest in Elkview Operations will be rolled up to equity in EVR, and that NSC will acquire additional equity in EVR from Teck, such that on closing NSC will hold a 20% equity interest in EVR.
POSCO has advised Teck that it intends to exchange its current 2.5% interest in Elkview Operations and its 20% interest in the Greenhills joint venture, for a 3% interest in EVR.'
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/GLEN/acquisition-77-of-teck-steelmaking-coal-business-zhgmezlfe04tmbn.html
GLEN up 3.33%, leading a shift higher across the major iron ore miners.
This January 11th will mark one whole year since the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, and where Saudi Arabia's PIF (their SWF) and Ma'aden (their mining champion) JV'ed to secure globally significant iron ore resources to feed their green steel industry.
Since then the JV hasn't secured a single ton of iron ore, and the clock is ticking as multiple new steel projects and downstream demand has been announced both in the KSA and GCC.
They need to get a shuffle on.
Coming up on 9th January the 2024 edition of the FMF kicks off in Riyadh. This coincides both with ZIOC's stated aim to MoU with a 'selected partner' in 1Q24, and also MBS's reveal that they are looking to close out projects in 1H24 that progress Vision2030, of which green steel is a central pillar.
Here's some FMF24 web splurge:
CREATING RESILIENT AND RESPONSIBLE MINERAL VALUE CHAINS IN AFRICA, WESTERN AND CENTRAL ASIA
Future economic growth and prosperity requires robust supply of minerals and metals.Demand for commodities like copper, *STEEL* and aluminium has increased exponentially to sustain our growing need for essential materials and power.
These drivers for consumption can only continue to proceed if the mineral and metal value chains’ capacity and logistics are at pace. The adoption of ‘green metals’ and establishment of ‘industrial hubs’ in an emerging minerals super region that stretches from Africa through the Middle East and into Central and East Asia will have a huge impact on the future development of resilient supply chains of minerals and metals. These countries hold large resource endowments that present a strategic base for all minerals deemed critical to our future.
https://www.futuremineralsforum.com/
I think we've all definitively marked last Tuesday's 15m of block and delayed trades as 'Shard' - yet a RNS to confirm is noticeably missing. So I read again the terms of the subscription facility:
'...A second Tranche of 12 million Subscription Shares (the "Second Tranche") will be subscribed for by SMC 10 trading days following the earlier of: (a) the date on which SMC has sold all the Subscription Shares subscribed for in the First Tranche; and (b) such other date as SMC and the Company agree.'
As per it seems nailed on that Shard completed T1 last week. Under the above terms they have *at most* 10 trading days to subscribe for T2 - which must be notified to the market, being an increase in the number of shares issued.
>If all so, and no later than Wednesday 22nd Nov, we should have an RNS that details the state of play.
Never mind Wood Mac being a bit slow in joining the high grade dots, here Kearney management consultant's Middle East metals and lining experts explicitly and specifically get the Saudi-PIF-Ma'aden demand for high grade iron ore.
'..secure and cost competitive iron ore' is surely a euphemism for 'owned'.
NATIONAL KSA STEEL CHAMPION WILL BRING SYNERGIES AND OPPORTUNITIES
02 November 2023
The creation of a national champion in Saudi Arabia’s steel industry will unlock a range of mega synergies and opportunities, write Kearney experts Igor Hulak, Konstantin Lyakhov and Artem Botinov.
The steel industry is a strategic sector for the Kingdom to grow and further develop in line with Vision 2030 aspirations, as it serves as an enabler to other sectors. The steel industry is vital to enabling downstream development of other sectors (e.g. construction, automotive, renewables, aerospace) by providing critical products and materials along the value chain and thus stimulating the manufacturing industry.
and then...
'Efficiency – not only through potential cost optimization but also leveraging current PIF JV with Maaden – Manara Minerals - for ACCESS TO SECURE AND COST COMPETITIVE IRON ORE.'
https://www.consultancy-me.com/news/7149/national-ksa-steel-champion-will-bring-synergies-and-opportunities
https://www.kearney.com/about/people/bio/igor-hulak
The problem for the Saudis and all others id the shortage of high grade iron ore.
> The ready made and shovel ready solution is Zanaga. This from June 22:
IRON ORE QUALITY A POTENTIAL HEADWIND TO GREEN STEELMAKING – Technology and mining options are available to hit net-zero steel targets - June 28, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Switching from blast furnaces that consume coal to green hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) processes is widely considered a key step in the global steel sector’s decarbonisation pathway. However, insufficient supply of suitable iron ore is a potential challenge to a global shift towards zero-emissions DRI processes.
Such a shortfall could handicap a faster switch to DRI technology this decade as well as delaying longer term targets to significantly ramp up DRI operations to reach net-zero emissions targets by 2050.
The global steel sector is still largely focused on existing coal-consuming blast furnace operations, giving iron ore miners an incentive to continue producing blast furnace-grade iron ore, rather than ores with higher iron content used for direct reduction (DR-grade). Options to address the issue include increased focus on the development of mines that can produce high-quality iron ores, further processing of existing ores to improve the grade (beneficiation) and technology solutions that enable the use of lower grade iron ore in DRI processes.
()
The amount of additional DR-grade iron ore capacity to be operational by 2030 is far from certain. In its 2021 iron ore project review, Wood Mackenzie provides data on planned mine projects that are earmarked to start producing ore this decade with Fe content of 67% or higher. This list totals 213Mtpa of new capacity, almost all of them magnetite projects. However, Wood Mackenzie considers only 41Mt of this potential new iron ore capacity to be “probable” or “highly probable” with the remaining four-fifths considered only “possible”.
Potential new DR-grade iron ore capacity by 2030 ranges from 40Mtpa to an optimistic high of 100Mtpa. However, according to Wood Mackenzie, there is additional DR-grade ore supply available beyond this should higher demand translate into investment and shift “possible” projects to “probable.
etc..
https://ieefa.org/resources/iron-ore-quality-potential-headwind-green-steelmaking-technology-and-mining-options-are
What's driving it all.
Sep 13, 2022 - Saudi Arabia plans to build three iron and steel projects worth 35 billion Saudi riyals ($9.3bn) as it seeks to develop its industrial sector as part of the kingdom's economic diversification agenda.
The projects will have a combined production capacity of 6.2 million tonnes, Bandar Al Khorayef, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, said on Monday.
()
The kingdom has also embarked on a national plan for the structuring of the iron and steel sector, which contains 41 recommendations to enable and sustain the sector, Mr Al Khorayef said.
These include the review and approval of 16 policies and legislation, as well as collaboration with the private sector on long-term solutions such as the establishment of an iron academy and a research and development centre to increase the efficiency of factory operations and create high-quality jobs for Saudi citizens.
“This will help us face and address global and local changes in order to ensure the sector's sustainability and resiliency in the face of economic and geopolitical variables,” Mr Al Khorayef said.
The kingdom's priorities include the local production of steel products of all types, such as heavy iron sheets for the oil and gas, defence and construction sectors, as well as tin-plate steel for the canned food sector and flat tin-plate for car and water pipe makers.
The ministry is also working on reducing imports in the iron and steel sector by 50 per cent to maintain a “financially and operationally sustainable sector” and ensure the availability of “critical supply chains such as iron ore”, SPA said.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/economy/2022/09/13/saudi-arabia-to-build-three-iron-and-steel-plants-worth-93bn/
SAUDI ARABIA LAUNCHES MINING FUND IN EFFORT TO REDUCE OIL DEPENDENCY
January 2023 - Saudi Arabia has launched a mining fund that plans to invest up to $15bn of capital in overseas assets according to people familiar with the details, as the country works to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
The venture, 51 per cent owned by Saudi state-owned miner Ma’aden, with the remainder owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund, will take non-operating minority stakes in mining projects internationally, the two companies said on Wednesday.
That will help Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s second-largest oil producer, to secure resources such as iron ore, copper, nickel and lithium for domestic mineral processing and other industrial activities like steelmaking.
However, two people familiar with the fund’s plans said that Saudi Arabia has publicly downplayed the scale of the investment plans and that the $50mn represented its first year of working capital and the $3bn the amount intended for investment over the next 12 months.
Given the scale of projects in commodity markets, the fund is prepared to deploy more than $15bn of capital for investments over the coming years as suitable opportunities emerge, the people added. PIF declined to comment beyond the statement.
The new fund comes as the US and Europe race to catch up with China in securing access to critical minerals that are used in strategic manufacturing industries such as solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars.
The investments will provide “critical minerals to ensure supply security for domestic minerals downstream sectors and [position] Saudi Arabia as a key partner in global supply-chain resilience,” the companies said.
The fund has already had discussions with Brazilian mining group Vale about taking a stake in its base metals unit, which includes nickel, copper and cobalt assets, according to two people familiar with the details.
The strategy of the fund has parallels with Japanese trading houses, which took equity stakes in mining projects during the country’s postwar industrialisation to supply manufacturers.
Ma’aden, which is 67 per cent owned by PIF, will finance its share of the investment from its own resources, the companies said. It may also raise capital through a rights issue.
METALS ARE IMPORTANT. There is a growing need for metals in renewable energy, zero carbon or industry and technology. Work is ongoing with African states to share information and experience in geological survey and other industrial processes.
Alkhorayef pointed to Manara Minerals Investment Co. (Manara), a new venture between the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which targets investment in mining in African countries. The ministry works on seizing available opportunities and facilitating the mission of Manara among other companies operating in Africa.
Speaking at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference in Riyadh yesterday, a forum which has brought together leaders from 50 nations in the Middle East and Africa and aims to strengthen ties between the Kingdom and the African Union (AU), the Saudi Arabian finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan emphasised the diplomatic and economic importance the government has placed on Africa.
“We have established partnerships with Africa to expand in several sectors and the Kingdom supports more than 400 projects in the African continent,” he said. “The Kingdom is keen to consolidate its relations with the African continent, which is one of the most important axes for the future of the global economy.”
Al-Jadaan went on to note that African markets are also “one of the priorities of the Public Investment Fund,” the Kingdom’s $700bn sovereign wealth fund, while Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih added later that PIF will soon make some “game changing” investments in Africa.
https://african.business/2023/11/trade-investment/saudi-arabia-commits-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-in-african-influence-push
In his ground-breaking TV interview in September MBS revealed this:
Saudi Arabia is to begin working on the next phase of its economic diversification plan known as Vision 2030 and hopes to unveil its Vision 2040 as early as 2027, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview this week.
“TODAY WE’RE TRYING TO CLOSE A FEW THINGS, WE’RE AIMING TO CLOSE IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2024 AND then we’re going to shift to implementation and starting preparation for Vision 2040 and announcing Vision 2040 in 2027-2028. So that’s the main thing we are focusing on,” he told Fox News when asked about the government’s current priorities.
https://www.agbi.com/articles/saudi-arabia-to-begin-preparing-vision-2040/
Then yesterday the Saudi Minister of Investment said this:
'...There was even the revelation that more was still to come, with Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih telling the event that the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund is eyeing up deals in the continent.
“PIF is looking at Africa with great interest and I believe they will be in due course making some game-changing announcements about their intent to invest in Africa,” said Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih.
He added that Ma’aden and PIF’s joint venture – announced in January – is going to “invest in the critical minerals in Africa.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2405881/business-economy
While Clifford Elphick has given us this timeline for ZIOC:
'...Following the acquisition of full ownership and control of the Zanaga Project we are now engaging with strategic entities interested in participating in the Zanaga Project, and intend on securing a selected partner by the end of Q1 2024". '
> In short MBS is looking for deal closures in 1H2023 that complete Vision2030 - a key part of which is their Green Steel Industry.
>Manara Mineral (PIF-Ma'aden JV) have yet to secure the high grade iron ore necessary for Green Steel
>The Saudi M of F yesterday revealed that the PIF was looking to make 'game changing' announcements over African Minerals 'in due course', and
> ZIOC are due to 'select' a strategic partner in 1Q2024
>> Everything aligns.
Dovetails precisely with this from January: the PIF-Ma'aden JV that was formed to invest in iron ore (etc) to secure raw materials for the new industries, first amongst which is Green Steel which demands Zanaga's grades of iron ore.
SAUDI ARABIAN MINING COMPANY (MA’ADEN) SIGNED WEDNESDAY AN AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTRY’S SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND (PIF) TUESDAY TO SET UP A JOINT VENTURE (JV) with a paid-up capital of about $50 million (SAR 187.5 million).
Ownership pattern
Ma’aden will have a 51% stake in the JV, with the remaining stake held by PIF, a disclosure statement to the Saudi bourse said.()
Further, if additional funding is required when the project develops, both companies have agreed to raise funds to the tune of $3.2 billion (SAR 11.9 billion) by raising capital or other means, the statement noted.
Initially, the strategy of the JV is to invest in the iron ore, copper, nickel, and lithium sectors as a non-operating partner taking minority equity positions. This will provide a physical offtake of critical minerals to ensure supply security for domestic minerals downstream sectors and position Saudi Arabia as a key partner in the global supply chain.
https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/industry/business/saudis-maaden-signs-deal-with-wealth-fund-pif-for-setting-up-jv-mining-firm
With the PIF-Ma'aden specifically tasked with securing (high grade) iron ore for their green steel industry:
“PIF is looking at Africa with great interest and I believe they will be in due course making some game-changing announcements about their intent to invest in Africa,” said Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih.
He added that Ma’aden and PIF’s joint venture – announced in January – is going to “invest in the critical minerals in Africa.”
Al-Falih said: “There is already $75 billion of Saudi investment deployed in Africa. It’s a good number, but I think we’re only scratching the surface given the great potential that we've talked about today.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2405881/business-economy
Awesome -alwayshoping!!!!!
Extrader hits a bullseye...
The updated NPV will have to factor in the revised EPC partner costings and maybe ( for the prospective buyers, a bit of 'sizzle' re possible value of a 60mtpa scenario).
They won't want to share any of this with PI's (what's the point, we're irrelevant at this stage) or distribute more generally, in case Big Den starts getting ideas....or his countrymen find out and start asking questions.
>> Avoiding the inclusion of the current NPV has numerous implications
Correct Mr g71, and we can speculate why so.
...between the 2019 Presentation and our November 2023 version. There's a huge omission.
4 more tonight, including 3 from yesterday and which includes a 2nd 970,360 at 6.50p
I think we are due an RNS - (more so now that AT is ignoring his emails and WhatsApps).
Could be. There is some ambiguity creeping in.