Mining / Success case
$100M+ nickel mining investment case: market analysis, financial model and deck
An established Saudi industrial group saw an opportunity in nickel mining but had never worked in the industry. We tested the opportunity, modelled the project and built the case for banks and investors.Client details are anonymised at the company’s request.
At a glance
Nickel project investment case
$100M+
SAR 410M, about $110M, for a nickel mining and processing project, from banks, private investors and family offices.
- OpportunityTested
- Project modelBuilt
- Investment caseDelivered
- FinancingNext
The economics in the model
Operating margins around 60%
Payback within five years, over a 16-year mine life
The project
Built in stages
From exploration to construction to operations
Client
Established Saudi industrial group, new to mining
- Nickel
- Mining and processing
Scope
- Market analysis
- Investment case
- Financial model
- Investor deck
- Deck design
The challenge: a new industry and an untested opportunity
A strong sponsor, an industry it had never worked in, and a project nobody had tested.
New to the industry
A strong industrial group with capital and relationships, and no history in mining. Every lender would ask why this team should build a mine.
An untested opportunity
Before raising anything, the project needed testing: who buys nickel, what they pay, and what the mine would cost and earn.
The story: a Saudi nickel project, built in stages
Saudi Arabia imports the nickel it uses, while about 60% of world supply comes from one country. This project would produce it locally.
- Saudi Arabia: the project, producing nickel locally
- The country that supplies about 60% of the world’s nickel
Over a 16-year mine life, the model shows operating margins of around 60% and payback within five years.
What we learned: why mining projects struggle to raise
Mining projects struggle to raise for four reasons.
Debt doesn’t grow with risk
As a project gets riskier, lenders fund a smaller share and equity covers the rest.
Lenders want the groundwork first
Permits, an independent technical review, fixed-price contracts and sales agreements, before the loan is signed.
Commodity cycles are brutal
Nickel ran a 283,000-tonne surplus in 2025. A project has to survive a long stretch of low prices.
New entrants carry a credibility gap
With no operating history, investors look harder at the team, the partners and the governance.
What gets financed, and how the case shows it
Four things get a mining project financed. The case answers each one.
What we did: the model, then the investor deck
We built the full project model, and on top of it the investor deck:
- The macro case
- The opportunity
- The project
- The products
- The partners
- The economics
- The ask
Results
- $100M+ investment case delivered for a nickel project, ready for banks, private investors and family offices
- ~60% operating margins in the model
- 4.3 years to payback in the model, over a 16-year mine life
- A group new to mining now had a case it could put in front of lenders
The investor deck
$3Mseed round closedGetting a deep tech company ready for a $3M seed round
Commercial phase fundedTextile waste to materialsRead the story
$20Macquisition financingM&A support
2 acquisitions$1B revenue in 2020Read the story
Enterprise brand for an energy grid startup
Read the story
Flagship website for a carbon capture startup
Read the storySeeing an opportunity outside your core industry?
We test it, model it and build the investment case lenders and investors need.
