MELBOURNE - Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (Orion CMC), a minerals investment group backed by the US government, is in advanced discussions to establish three new public-private partnerships in Asia as it seeks to fund a $20-billion global pipeline of opportunities, executives told Reuters.

The consortium plans to form a third regional leg of investment to add to $1.8-billion raised by the group last year to bolster Western access to copper, lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals.

It is led by mining-focused private equity house Orion Resource Partners, and backed by the US International Development Finance Corporation, and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund ADQ.

“There are three fairly advanced sets of discussions with Asian counterparties to add them to the roster, it's a priority," Orion Resource Partners CEO Oskar Lewnowski said.

"Things with the US and the Middle East are progressing nicely, but we would certainly love to add the third leg, which would be an Asian-based set of investors," he said, adding potential partners included additional sovereign wealth funds, government agencies, and original equipment manufacturers.

The priority of Asia as the next major investment destination for the consortium, the impending partnerships and the scale of foreseen investment beyond a previous target of $5 billion has not previously been reported.

The push comes as demand for critical minerals accelerates, driven by the growth of data centres and hyperscalers, continued urbanisation, and rearmament and replacement of munitions, he said.

That expansion will require an estimated $2.4-trillion in investment by mid-century, including at least $800-billion over the next 15 years to bring projects online, Lewnowski said.

Copper production alone has to roughly double by 2050.

However, governments are grappling with high debt loads and banks have pulled back from pre-revenue project financing, creating a major funding shortfall.

"The amount of money (needed) is huge. So to activate that kind of pipeline, we need all hands to battle stations," Lewnowski said.

Much of the world’s untapped mineral supply lies in emerging markets, while demand is concentrated in advanced economies, creating what executives described as a political push and pull over how and where new mines are developed.

ASIAN OPPORTUNITIES

New York-headquartered Orion is positioning itself as an alternative funding partner to Chinese investors and trading houses, targeting mid-sized developers rather than major mining groups.

“The growth is not in the majors, because they've under spent for so long,” said John Dorian, a portfolio manager at Orion Resource Partners, focused on Asia.

The firm sees significant opportunities in Southeast Asia, where multiple multi-billion-dollar critical minerals projects are under development, he said.

"There's probably five in Indonesia... There's probably a couple in Vietnam, there's a few in Philippines, there's a number in Australia,” he said.

Orion is also assessing opportunities across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, as well as in Africa's copper belt, Morocco, Namibia and Mali, and in South America, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, they said.