AI is pouring hot money into upstream miners: tech giants want to “invest” in British and American Resources, mining companies such as BHP Billiton (BHP.US) and others to lock in copper supply

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Duncan Wanbrard, CEO of AAUKF.US (AAUKF.US), said on Thursday that the company has held negotiations with several technology companies and that these companies intend to take a stake in the mining company as a way to lock in the long-term supply of metals.

Wanblad told the British Metals and Mining Summit that no such equity investment has been implemented yet, but “there are indeed some very deep expressions of interest and are inclined to try to do this” because “given the scarcity issues we have been talking about, many people are looking for ways to lock in supply.”

Technology companies make extensive use of copper, aluminum, steel, and various rare earth metals when manufacturing products and operating data centers that support artificial intelligence.

BHP Billiton (BHP.US) Chief Financial Officer Wandana Pant also said at the summit that the company is negotiating with a number of hyperscale cloud service providers and cooperating with Amazon (AMZN.US) to help them obtain low-carbon copper, but equity investment is “another matter.”

“If you're a customer, what you're looking for is to be able to rely on a very reliable supply,” Pant said.

Wanblad also told the summit that if the EU does not approve plans to sell these assets to China Minmetals Resources (MMG), Anglo-American Resources is likely to shut down its nickel business in Brazil.