HudBay Minerals’ top executive says he’s speaking with investors in the Middle East and Japan who are interested in bidding for a stake in the company’s proposed US copper project.

The company recently initiated a process to sell a minority portion of its flagship Copper World project in Arizona, which has drawn expressions of interest from investors in Saudi Arabia as well as the United Arab Emirates and Japan, according to CEO Peter Kukielski.

“We were in Saudi Arabia in November last year and met with a lot of the key interested parties there,” he said in an interview. “So, I can say Manara Minerals Investment Co., for example, but also through the United Arab Emirates with a lot of interested parties there as well.” Manara didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sales process is underway as miners and commodities investors are racing to boost their exposure to copper. Demand for the metal is poised to surge in the coming decades, driven by the electrification of cars and buildings. President Donald Trump’s threats to slap tariffs on foreign imports of copper have also created incentives for domestic investment in the metal.

Copper producers have long focused on Arizona to develop projects that can meet US demand. Rio Tinto Group has sought to develop its Resolution project east of Phoenix, while Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Electric, which owns a deposit in Arizona, has backing from BHP Group and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned mining division.

Copper World is about 257 km northwest of Phoenix. Toronto-based HudBay, which also operates copper and gold mines across the Americas, estimates the project could yield 85,000 metric tons of copper per year when developed, with an expected mine life of 20 years.

Kukielski said the project has garnered interest from Japanese trading houses, which typically take minority stakes in metals projects, as well as major mining firms, though he declined to specify the parties. The process is expected to close in six months and sell as much as 30% of the project.

“We’re capping it at about 30%,” he said. “We think a 20-30% sale is likely. We think that’s more than enough for a traditional type of partner.”