RIYADH: Saudi Arabia Mining Co (Maaden) and US Alcoa signed financing deals worth 7.1 billion riyals ($1.9 billion) for the first phase of their joint $10.8 billion Aluminium project in the kingdom, Maaden said on Tuesday. The Saudi Arabian miner said 16 local, regional, international banks and financial institutions provided $1.9 billion in financing for the project. It did not provide names but UAE-based Emirates NBD, France's BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered as well as Canada's Export Development Canada, took part in the financing, sources said in July. Maaden and Alcoa through their jointly-owned units would later sign financing deals worth around $2.6 billion with the Saudi finance ministry's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and government-owned Saudi Industrial Investment Fund (SIDF). This also covers the first phase of the project and brings total financing of that phase to $4.5 billion, Maaden said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website. Maaden said in June that its board agreeed on the $4.5 billion financing plan for the first phase of the giant project. It said at the time that this would cover 60 percent of the cost of the first phase of the project while the rest of the financing will be made by Maaden and Alcoa. The joint venture started work on the project, which it said will be the world's largest fully integrated Aluminium complex. The complex will include a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery, Aluminium smelter and rolling mill at Ras Az Zawr. The smelter and the rolling mill are expected to begin operations in 2013, while the mine and refinery are expected to come on stream the following year.
