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By Pesha Magid
RIYADH (Reuters) - Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, is in talks with Saudi Arabia over potential joint investments in the metal, the company's chairman told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
On Codelco's output, Chairman Maximo Pacheco said the company's own production for 2025 was expected to rise by about 70,000 metric tons to around 1.4 million tons.
Pacheco said the state-owned company had been in discussions with Saudi Arabia as there was a clear need on both sides to add value.
"We would be very open to considering joint investment opportunities," said Pacheco in an interview following a gathering of miners for the kingdom's annual Future Minerals Forum.
Saudi Arabia has been pursuing critical minerals including copper and lithium, bidding to become a hub for battery and electric vehicle manufacturing as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to wean the economy off oil.
Pacheco said he had met with the Saudi mining minister and representatives from Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company and the kingdom's $925 billion Public Investment Fund.
He said that he hoped that an announcement from the discussions could emerge in the coming months.
"The markets move very fast. So obviously we need to move fast as well," said Pacheco.
He said he had discussed technology transfers with Saudi Arabia, noting the kingdom's experience with desalination. The two sides also talked about introducing new technologies, such artificial intelligence, into mining.
Saudi Arabia's mining minister Bandar al-Khorayaf previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia was interested in Chile's lithium assets.
Codelco has been seeking a partner on a major lithium project in the Maricunga salt flat. Pacheco said the company had short-listed potential investors and Saudi companies were not on that list.
He suggested the board would vote on the project in March.
Faced with declining ore grades, accidents and mistakes at major construction projects, Codelco has been struggling to lift production from 25-year lows and revved up output at the end of the year to hit its 2024 target of reaching 1.328 million metric tons.
(Reporting by Pesha Magid; Editing by Veronica Brown and Tomasz Janowski)
