Saudi Arabia Mining Company (Maaden) and partner US Alcoa have signed financing deals worth SR7.1bn ($1.9bn) for the first phase of their joint $10.8bn aluminium project in the kingdom, Reuters has reported. The two partners are also expected later to sign financing deals worth around $2.6bn with the Finance Ministry’s Public Investment Fund and government-owned Saudi Industrial Investment Fund (SIDF). The deals would cover the first phase of the project and bring total financing of that phase to $4.5bn, Maaden said.