PDAC 2026’s crowded halls and deal-making energy set the backdrop for Mining.com.au’s conversation with Larry McClure, Senior Investment Officer, GCC Region at the Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi.
McClure’s work focuses on bringing Canadian investment opportunities to investors across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and he was on hand at PDAC facilitating just these types of conversations.
The GCC region has undergone a transformation in the past few years, driven by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and its focus on developing mineral value chains backed by a sustainable mining industry.
While a lot of conversations on site at PDAC were definitely focused on investment into the Kingdom, McClure is looking at bringing Middle Eastern investment into Canada.
McClure notes that he’s seeing a lot of new activity, in the private equity space in particular, coming out of the Middle East, with an ecosystem-driven approach to investment.
This interest is really a hub and spoke model, where Middle Eastern investors are not just looking at specific projects, but at the whole infrastructure around these projects as opportunities.
“We’ve had a number of investors come through Canada, across various provinces, looking at opportunities where they can provide value, both from a capital perspective but also where they can provide practical operational opportunities,” McClure says.
Local partnerships
The biggest challenge that McClure notes for these sovereign and institutional investors in operating in Canada is that there’s a nuance that they’re not always familiar with.
Understanding local regulations and policy, timing, and permitting needed to get a project to final investment decision can be quite different than what investors from the GCC are used to.
McClure says that from a regulatory perspective, recent funds being launched from the Canadian government in affiliation with Natural Resources Canada are a signal to institutional investors from the GCC region that there’s a lot of effort being put in to expedite these opportunities for investors.
GCC investors are looking for partnerships, McClure notes.
“Whether that’s from a federal or provincial-level equity or debt co-investment opportunity or with local financiers, such as public pension funds or local banks, to get these projects off the ground.
“This is necessary from a de-risking perspective.”
McClure notes that the sovereigns from the GCC region don’t necessarily need that capital investment for partnerships.
“They view investment into Canada from the lens of partnership to help bring a project to life to unlock future opportunities.
“They could go at it alone, but they see much more value doing it from a partnership model.”
These strategic partnerships align more with the ecosystem investment approach that McClure pointed at earlier, with GCC investors looking at involvement across the mine infrastructure – road, rail, port, all of the traditional infrastructure as well as social and digital components as well
“Think of the Golden Triangle or Ring of Fire style of regions,” McClure says.
Another side of that partnership equation is to assist with Indigenous community relations.
“How mines are built in this country is very different than what they’re used to in the Middle East,” McClure notes.
While there is a lot of human capital in the GCC region that come from Australia and Canada and so are familiar with the nuances of working with and establishing positive relationships with Indigenous communities, without operating assets here, it’s difficult to fully understand from an operational perspective.
“What it takes to get business done here and the different community relations from one province to the next is very different,” McClure says.
The GCC region is not just looking at investment into Canadian projects, but toward reciprocal trade opportunities from Canadian technology and mining companies.
McClure notes that conversations had at this year’s Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Saudi this past January reiterate those conversations.
“A record number of Canadian companies came to FMF looking for opportunities within the Kingdom.”
Future outlook
McClure notes that these types of conversations and partnerships are going to continue, with the strategy coming out of Saudi Arabia continuing to gain momentum.
McClure says that the momentum between Canada and the GCC is only set to build, driven by shared strategic ambitions, deepening partnerships, and a recognition of the power of collaboration.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: PDAC
