Maaden raises $1.25 billion from bond sale to fund mining growth
Trump to announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs in latest trade escalation
Tungsten miner says clients in shock as China chokes supply
Mining Indaba: From crime to catalyst – artisanal miners demand reform
Mali’s gold production plunges 23% in 2024
Maaden raises $1.25 billion from bond sale to fund mining growth
Mansourah Massarah gold mine
Saudi Arabian Mining Co., commonly known as Maaden, has raised $1.25 billion from its debut Islamic bond sale as the company looks to fund a huge expansion program over the next five years.
Maaden attracted over $10 billion in offers from investors for the sukuk, which was split between $750 million maturing in 2030 and $500 million maturing in 2035.
“The market appetite for investing in Saudi Arabia, in mining, and in Maaden specifically, is strong, and a sign of the untapped potential seen in the kingdom,” Maaden chief executive officer Bob Wilt said in an interview. Around half of the demand came from US investors with the rest split between Europe, Asia and the Middle East, he said.
The company is tapping fixed income investors as it embarks on a more than $12 billion investment drive through to the end of the decade that includes major expansions of its gold, phosphate and aluminum businesses. It’s also ramping up efforts to explore for more copper in the kingdom.
Maaden’s board will make a final decision on new investments in gold and phosphate production around the middle of this year, Wilt said.
Maaden is unlikely to tap bond markets again soon but may do so in future to raise further funds for growth projects, he added.
Maaden, majority owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, is one of the key entities behind the country’s push to make mining a so-called third pillar of the Saudi economy along with oil and petrochemicals, as part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s economic master-plan.
Maaden announced in January it was working on creating a joint venture with state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco for the exploration and mining of energy transition metals in the country.
Trump to announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs in latest trade escalation
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will announce on Monday new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the US, which would come on top of existing metals duties in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, on his way to the NFL Super Bowl in New Orleans, also said he will announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, to take effect almost immediately.
He said the US would match tariff rates levied by other countries and that this would apply to all countries.
“And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said of the reciprocal tariff plan.
Trump during his first term imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, but later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Former President Joe Biden extended these quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union, and US steel mill capacity utilization has dropped in recent years.
Tungsten miner says clients in shock as China chokes supply
The phone has been ringing off the hook for Lewis Black after China imposed export controls on tungsten, a niche metal mined by his firm that’s crucial to weapons manufacturing.
The chief executive officer of North America’s Almonty Industries Inc. said his customers are in a “state of disbelief” following Beijing’s move on Tuesday, one of a suite of measures announced as a riposte to tariffs placed on Chinese goods by the Trump administration.
China accounts for about 80% of the world’s tungsten output, and there are concerns the government could add measures around tungsten scrap that would further constrict its availability. Almonty’s stock in Toronto has soared 41% over the last two days as investors price in scarcer supply of the super-dense material used in armor-piercing munitions, as well for engine parts and chip making.
“It’s the warning shot, because we cannot exist without it,” Black said in a phone interview from his base in New York on Thursday. “Our economy, manufacturing, defense, everything, is so dependent on it. And yet, Russia, China and North Korea have about 90% of the output.”
China has banned imports of tungsten scrap for a number of years, citing environmental concerns over how it’s processed. If it were to lift the embargo, it could suck in more supply and limit what’s left for other countries. That would create “a situation where it’s very difficult for my customers to compete with China,” said Black.
“The question is, how much will China tighten the screw to be heard?” he said. “I think the news was bad, but I think it’s going to get worse.”
The tungsten market is valued at roughly $5 billion, making it a relatively niche market compared with other major metals, such as copper at more than $200 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations.
Mining Indaba: From crime to catalyst – artisanal miners demand reform
Rio-Tinto’s Werner Duvenhage, right, makes a point with Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields.
More can be done to transform artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) into a safe, transparent, investment-ready sector, according to an industry conference in Cape Town.
But experts warn that curbing endemic corruption comes first, the Investing in African Mining Indaba heard on Tuesday. Formalizing ASM and enforcing anti-corruption measures are two sides of the same coin.
“It’s about moving from crime to investing in a legitimate sector,” David Sturmes-Verbreek of global sustainability organization The Impact Facility said during a panel. It was considering what needs to change to harness the full potential of ASM.
Record-high gold prices attract more than 45 million informal miners across 80 countries to support families totalling 270 million people, according to Sturmes-Verbreek.
Corruption, lack of development and criminal gangs contribute to the rising trend throughout Africa, Central and South America and Asia. Some producers, such as Aris Mining (TSX: ARIS; NYSE-AM: ARMN), are trying to incorporate artisanal miners into the formal sector, but an uneasy relationship exists in most places where mines and the slums they attract interact.
Mali’s industrial gold production plunged 23% to 51 metric tons last year from 66.5 tons in 2023, the West African country’s mines ministry said.
Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and home to industrial mines operated by international companies including Barrick Gold, B2Gold Corp, Resolute Mining and Hummingbird Resources.
A ministry document showed on Friday that the output number excludes Barrick Gold’s December production following the company’s dispute with Mali’s military-led government related to a mining law introduced in 2023.
Barrick suspended operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto operation last month after authorities seized its gold reserves by helicopter. Four of its employees have been detained since November on charges including money laundering and financing of terrorism, which the company denies.
