Abu Dhabi forms mining investment joint venture

31 January 2025

Abu Dhabi’s ADQ has announced a new joint venture with US-based Orion Resource Partners to invest in the metals and mining sector.

The 50-50 joint venture, named Orion Abu Dhabi, will be based in Abu Dhabi Global Market and will focus on strategic investments in mining companies across emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

With an initial capital commitment of $1.2bn over the first four years, Orion Abu Dhabi aims to enhance supply chain security by sourcing essential minerals such as copper and high-grade iron ore. The joint venture will utilise various investment instruments, including equity, senior debt, and production-linked instruments like royalties and offtakes.

The establishment of Orion Abu Dhabi is part of ADQ’s Infrastructure & Critical Minerals cluster, which aims to contribute to the resilience of the local economy and support the growth of the wider investment portfolio.

According to GlobalData, the global mining industry experienced a slight improvement in business sentiment in 2024, with a reported increase of 0.2% compared to the previous year, indicating a cautious optimism among companies.

Mining companies continued to explore and invest in mineral-rich areas, focusing on efficient extraction methods and improved waste management technologies. Despite these advancements, the industry still faces challenges, particularly in meeting the rising demand for essential minerals like copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt.

Forecasts suggest that production will not keep pace with demand, with annual production increases projected at 2.8% for copper, 16.2% for lithium, 3.9% for nickel, and 4.7% for cobalt through 2030, while demand is expected to grow significantly faster.

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Colin Foreman
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    Abu Dhabi has recently launched a $6bn project that combines 5,200MW of solar and 19 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery energy storage capacity to deliver 1,000MW of round-the-clock renewable power capacity, a world first. 

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    In December, the US government reportedly approved the export of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to a Microsoft-operated facility in the UAE, as part of the technology giant’s $1.5bn partnership with Mubadala-backed AI firm G42.

    Three months earlier, in September, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser, met with Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, in Washington to seal an agreement known as the Common Principles for Cooperation on AI, following a meeting between UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and then-US President Joe Biden.

    The meeting took place a few days after US-based equity investment firm BlackRock announced a $100bn tech investment platform called Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership.

    The fund’s partners include Mubadala-backed AI fund MGX, which aims to build $100bn in assets under management; US-based Global Infrastructure Partners; and Microsoft.

    In January, MGX teamed up with US tech giant Oracle, Japan’s Softbank and ChatGPT creator Open AI to form the Stargate project, a joint venture that aims to invest $500bn in building AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years.

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    It appears that this choice has been made previously, however.

    In an interview in early 2024, G42 CEO Peng Xiao said that his firm is cutting ties with Chinese hardware suppliers in favour of US counterparts, adding: “We cannot work with both sides.”

    In addition, in December, Axios – the US media outlet that reported the clearance of AI chip exports by the US to the Microsoft and G42 facility in Abu Dhabi – suggested that the deal is part of efforts by the US government to elbow China out of the UAE’s expanding tech industry.

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    While it is widely accepted that the use of advanced AI solutions such as large- or small-language models or agentic AI for industrial applications can enable some sectors to cut emissions, AI requires hyperscale data centres, and data centres generally are as polluting as the airline industry.

    Although the high temperatures and water scarcity of the Middle East can be addressed by another ESG-sensitive industry – seawater desalination – these factors can lead data centres in the region to be more carbon positive than those in other geographies.

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    Main image: Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser, and Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, signed a cooperation agreement on AI in September 2024. Credit: Wam


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    The US’ relations with Iran, where Trump’s position appears to have softened in recent months, is a case in point.

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    One inevitable constant of US relations in the region is Washington’s largely unconditional backing for Israel, and Trump’s administration is expected to reaffirm his support for Israel.

    The president’s first term was a triumph for pro-Israel policymakers in Washington, with Trump breaching long-standing US holding patterns of diplomatic ambiguity by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and normalising the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.

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    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13350333/main.jpg
    Jennifer Aguinaldo