AI hot money flows to upstream miners: Tech giants want to "take stakes" in Anglo American, BHP Group Ltd Sponsored American Depositary Receipt Repr 2 Shs(BHP.US) and other mining companies to lock in copper supply.

Anglo American (AAUKF.US) CEO Duncan Wanblad said on Thursday that the company has held talks with several technology companies that are interested in taking stakes in the miner as a way to lock in long-term metal supply. Speaking at the UK Metals and Mining Summit, Wanblad said no such equity investments have been finalized yet, but "there is some very deep interest expressed in trying to do that," because "given the scarcity issues that we keep talking about, a lot of people are trying to find ways to lock in supply." Technology companies use large amounts of copper, aluminum, steel and various rare earth metals in manufacturing products and operating data centers that support artificial intelligence. BHP Group Ltd Sponsored American Depositary Receipt Repr 2 Shs (BHP.US) Chief Financial Officer Vandana Pant also said at the summit that the company is in talks with several hyperscalers and is working with Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) to help it obtain low-carbon copper, though equity investment is "a different matter." "If you're a customer, what you're looking for is a very reliable supply that you can depend on," Pant said. Wanblad also told the summit that Anglo American would likely close its nickel operations in Brazil if the European Union does not approve a plan to sell those assets to China's MMG (MMG).