Private equity and venture capital investments in the metals and mining sector reached $9.09 billion in Q1 2026, significantly exceeding all full-year totals from the previous five years except 2023.

This surge was primarily due to the $9 billion Mutanda deal, which was the standout transaction of the first quarter, a report from S&P Global Market Intelligence stated.

The deal involved Orion Resource Partners (USA) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation acquiring a 40% stake in the Mutanda Group and Kamoto Copper Co. SARL copper-cobalt assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Glencore PLC.

This single deal drove record deal value and boosted private equity's share of activity in the sector to 22.5%—far above the 1.7% recorded in 2025.

"The Mutanda Group trade can be seen as a novel way to deploy PE capital in co-investments with government-linked institutions as minority stakeholders in producing assets. This type of transaction enables private actors to generate attractive returns, with part of the risk being covered/managed by the co-investor. Exits will likely be a sale to strategic buyers down the line," Luca Blasi, global head of Private Markets and Regulatory Solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told Benzinga.

The unprecedented scale of this partnership reflects a growing willingness among both governments and private investors to collaborate on securing access to critical resources, setting a new benchmark for future deals in the sector.

"The deal also shows a very important geopolitical/geoeconomic role for public-private capital initiatives in the global commodity sourcing strategy of global countries," Blasi added.

The report also pointed to growing public-sector involvement in mining transactions, particularly around minerals used in electrification, power-hungry data centers, and defense needs. S&P linked the shift to supply-chain security concerns amid geopolitical frictions, including China's tighter export rules for certain dual-use materials as a result of U.S. tariffs.

Outside "critical minerals," S&P said steel and gold stood out as "most favored commodity targets in 2025." Four of the 10 largest deals focused on steel across established manufacturing hubs in the U.S. and China, as well as emerging Middle East markets.

"The steel sector gained prominence due to the EU’s implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, focusing on decarbonization, while high gold prices drew significant investor attention, making gold the second-most-targeted commodity," the report stated.

In both public and private sectors, the total announced deal value for metals and mining reached $40.32 billion in the first quarter. 

"Deployment of PE capital to Emerging Markets has been traditionally challenging, due to uncertainties linked to legal frameworks, timing of deal return, and wider political risks. On the other hand, PE has extensive dry-powder that needs deployment and, given the current status of capital markets and headwinds in IPO markets, a need to find innovative ways to return value to shareholders," Blasi said.

While private equity deal volume has remained consistent from 2021 to 2025, the percentage of PE deals relative to overall transactions has stayed within a narrow range. 

The current surge represents "an exceptional year driven by the combination of critical mineral focus, government participation, and geopolitical turbulence keeping both critical minerals and safe-haven gold in the spotlight," the report concluded.

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