Citadel Resources Ltd., developer of Saudi Arabia's biggest copper deposit, said it's interested in the future in boosting its stake in the Jabal Sayid deposit beyond 70 percent. “It's a great project, so if we can do it as an accretive deal we would obviously do so,” Ines Scotland, chief executive officer of Melbourne-based Citadel, said on Wednesday, adding the company had no immediate plans to boost its stake. “We're constantly chatting with our joint venture partners about that, about the right point in time.” Citadel plans to start production at the A$280 million ($244 million) copper-gold development by the fourth quarter next year. The company said today it sold A$251 million shares to institutional investors to help fund the project. Shares of Citadel fell 6.5 percent to 29 cents at 12:29 p.m. in Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange. It sold the shares at the same price, an 11 percent discount to their June 18 close. Citadel is seeking to sell A$10 million to A$20 million shares to individual investors in a sale due to start June 29. Citadel this week agreed with joint venture partner Central Mining Investments Ltd. to raise its stake in the Saudi project to 70 percent from 50 percent. Most new institutional investors are London and Hong Kong- based, Scotland said. Many are keen to invest in an Australian company with its main assets outside the nation after the government's proposal last month for a 40 percent mine profits tax, she said. “They obviously aren't looking to invest in other Australian projects at the moment given the resources tax,” Scotland said. “They expressed that view to us.” Jabal Sayid, KSA's first base metals project and the first to get a mining license under new mining laws, is targeting annual output of 57,000 metric tons of copper in concentrate.
