Saudi state-owned miner Maaden is exploring an international bond sale this year to faciliate its $12bn (SR45bn) investment programme through to the end of the decade, reported Bloomberg.

The company is in discussions with banks regarding the potential issuance, with a decision expected later in 2025, Maaden CEO Bob Wilt was cited as saying by the news agency.

“We are going to spend on average $2.5bn a year over the next five years in growing our phosphates business, our aluminium business, and our gold and base metals business,” Wilt noted.

He emphasised the importance of maintaining capital efficiency to execute new projects without straining the balance sheet.

Maaden, majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), plays a crucial role in the country’s strategy to establish mining as a third economic pillar alongside oil and petrochemicals.

This initiative is part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s economic masterplan.

A bond sale by Maaden would add to the country’s recent surge in debt issuances by the government and state-controlled companies to finance extensive investment plans.

Saudi Arabia, a significant emerging market bond issuer, has already initiated a $12bn government bond and a $7bn loan for the PIF in 2025.

This development aligns with Riyadh’s efforts to enhance its mining sector, which has seen limited progress despite attempts to attract international companies.

Maaden has partnered with the PIF to form Manara Minerals, which focuses on acquiring overseas assets.

Manara’s first acquisition was a 10% stake in Vale’s base metals business.

“Manara has a healthy pipeline of transactions we are looking at,” said Wilt, who also has a seat on the business’ board. He declined to specify the number of deals anticipated for 2025.

Recently, Aramco and Maaden signed non-binding heads of terms to set up a minerals exploration and mining joint venture (JV) in Saudi Arabia.

The proposed JV will focus on extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing direct lithium extraction technologies, with production potentially starting by 2027.