A mining investment fund backed by the US and Abu Dhabi is considering buying a stake in troubled miner Eramet, whose top shareholders include the French state, as the race for minerals key to the energy transition escalates.
Orion Critical Mineral Consortium, set up last year with an initial $1.8bn to target overseas projects, is in the early stages of looking at acquiring some or all of the 37 per cent stake held by the Duval family, said two people familiar with the matter.
The French government is the second-largest investor in Eramet, and a tie-up with Orion CMC would mark another step in the push among allied nations to forge partnerships on mineral supply chains as they seek to counter China’s dominance of key metals, including lithium and rare earth elements.