Private Equity Deals In Mining Expected To Accelerate

The mining sector is attracting private equity interest in 2025 as fund managers and analysts scramble to adjust to evolving market trends, including shifting geopolitical dynamics. While investment volume remained below peak levels in previous years, the latest S&P  Global Market Intelligence data suggests an upward trajectory for private capital allocations in critical minerals and mining infrastructure.

"We’re incredibly bullish around the need of these critical minerals to carry out the energy transition,” Martin Valdes, head of private equity strategy at Resource Capital Funds, told S&P Global. “It’s not energy transition only anymore — it’s also decarbonization, electrification and penetration of electric vehicles.”

Global private equity and venture capital-backed investments in metals and mining totaled $152.8 million in Q1 2025, down sharply from $4.35 billion in the same quarter of 2024. However, a $4.14 billion funding for Sweden's Stegra AB (formerly H2 Green Steel) from Just Climate LLP and Microsoft's M12 fund skewed last year's data.

S&P Global noted that, outside the outlier, the deal volume has remained stable and fund managers expect activity to pick up through the second half of 2025. They anticipate the capital commitments to finalize in newer funds focused on energy infrastructure and raw materials.

Private equity funds have also shown renewed interest in regionally significant projects in North America and Europe, where permitting clarity and government support have increased. In the U.S., the Trump administration added 10 domestic mining projects to the federal permitting dashboard in Q1, part of an executive directive to reduce reliance on Chinese-sourced materials. Lithium production hit a record 105,000 metric tons globally in Q4 2024, but the output of other battery metals fell on weaker prices, highlighting the importance of stable financing channels for project viability.

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The largest PE deal in Q1 2025 was a $64.7 million investment into French green steel venture GravitHy, backed by Advantage Partners Inc., Engie New Ventures and KIC Innoenergy SE. Finland-based Terrafame Oy secured $52 million in a separate transaction supported by the Galena Private Equity Resources Fund. Europe attracted $124.5 million in metals and mining PE funding during the quarter, with Asia-Pacific following at $28.3 million.

Despite regulatory frictions—best seen in post-election urges for a regulatory overhaul in Canada and Australia—and operational complexity as limiting factors, long-term supply deficits in metals like lithium, copper, and rare earths fuel industry optimism.

Meanwhile, nearshoring efforts also help the positive momentum as incentives for domestic production grow. Thus, with foreign capital investments in sensitive areas scrutinized, private equity might play an important role in bridging the capital gap.

“A lot of new mines are needed to be built and that will require a lot of capital. Private equity will play an important role alongside the public markets in fulfilling that additional supply,” Valdes noted.

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