What is the history behind Open Mineral, and what is its presence in the Middle East?

BE: We founded Open Mineral in 2016 with former Glencore colleagues to bring digitization into the metals industry, specifically metal trading and its supply chain, areas that lacked efficiency due to the sheer complexity and scale involved. Since then, we have grown to about 80 people across 12 offices, allowing us to stay close to suppliers and customers like smelters. In 2022, after a capital raise led by Mubadala, we opened our first office in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi. We are opening an office in Saudi Arabia; we have been handling the paperwork for the past few months, and I expect us to be up and running by the first half of 2025. Over the past 24 months, we have done business with nine of the ten largest companies in the mining sector, which shows how well-integrated we are within the industry. Our growth reflects this value—over the last five years, we have achieved over 50% annual growth in revenue and gross profit margins.

How do you integrate technology and AI in a traditional business like trading?

JK: Open Mineral has digitized the entire upstream base metals value chain. That is mine-to-refinery and everything in between. This means we can now deploy AI to this data and optimise commercial decision making and investment analysis. While this has typically benefited our trading business by enabling us to take market positions with limited risk, the technology we have developed also benefits our customers, namely the smelters, mines and the engineering firms who build these types of assets. Our system considers factors like financing options, product pricing that accounts for fluctuating market conditions, and regional arbitrage opportunities, giving mines and smelters the insights they need for informed decision-making on future business strategy. This sort of intelligence generates profitability with our previous case studies showing typical uplift of 5-10% to net present value. This can be the difference between whether a metal-producing asset will be built or not – that’s crucial in the green transition as demand of critical minerals rises. 

BE: Our technology also benefits vertically integrated mines and smelters. We can determine the optimal production path to enhance profitability by inputting all costs into our system alongside true market terms. Machine learning evaluates raw materials based on recoverable and penalized elements to maximize profitability. By predicting shifts in raw material costs and potential penalties with high accuracy, our system enables proactive decision-making on which inputs yield the most profitable outputs. 

How can a company hire your services, and how do you add value?

BE: Most often, companies will invite us to participate in tenders, where we submit competitive terms alongside other buyers. Alternatively, we offer a transparent marketing-as-a-service model for mines. In this setup, we handle all aspects of logistics, trade finance, insurance, and other necessary components to deliver a complete end-to-end solution with full transparency for the mine. 

What makes the Middle East, especially KSA, stand out?

BE: The Gulf countries are developing rapidly, and their governments prioritize economic transformation, industrial growth, and mining. The region also maintains strong connections with emerging markets, including those in Africa and Latin America, opening new doors for us to expand. Besides, they also have substantial capital, which makes the Gulf a natural strategic partner for many nations that need funding. Additionally, they hold a neutral position, balancing ties with the Global South, the West, and China, which is crucial in trade as impartiality matters. Despite being a desert, the Gulf is genuinely an oasis of capital, opportunities, and a natural trading hub.

JK: What stands out about the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, is their ability to craft and execute a long-term vision. Globally, few can match their capability to turn ambitious plans into reality. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is blending traditional industries—like manufacturing and construction—with cutting-edge technologies. Aramco, for example, is more than an oil company; it has heavily invested in technology and AI for industrial applications. Open Mineral fits well within this ecosystem, combining the trading of raw materials with advanced technology and aligning with Saudi Arabia's vision to establish a robust industrial base.